John Ichsan Tan
John Ichsan Tan
Cardiothoracic Surgeon
28 December 1956 - 9 December 2015
It is with great sadness that The Australian and New Zealand Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons reports the passing of John Ichsan Tan, friend and colleague.
John was an enigma. He had so much talent in such a wide variety of activities, even close friends never ceased to be surprised. Of all his activities, cardiac surgery was his greatest love. Like most cardiac surgeons, he felt privileged to do the work and embraced the commitment required. There is no category for John Ichsan Tan. John was never in a box and indeed, always thought outside the box. He challenged our strongly held beliefs and in that regard, he could be called a heretic. If a heretic successfully puts his ideas into practice, he is called an eccentric. Many people described John as eccentric. If the ideas of the heretic or the practices of the eccentric are embraced by the majority, that person is then called a leader. It is rarely possible to become an innovator or leader without first being a heretic.
In 2007, the concept of a small isolated cardiac surgical unit in a private hospital was challenged within the Australian Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons and by the Queensland government. The index unit was at Allamanda Hospital and John Tan lead the loyal and committed team in that unit. The finding was that the unit provided an appropriate and useful service to the community. The Allamanda team had monitored their outcomes which were then published (1).
John was born in Jakarta and moved to Los Angeles with his family. He came to Australia to complete high school in Goulburn and continued into medicine at the University of New South Wales receiving his MBBS in 1981. He trained in general surgery, receiving his FRACS in 1990 and promptly commenced training in cardiothoracic surgery at Westmead, Royal Adelaide and Royal Prince Alfred Hospitals, receiving his Fellowship in 1993. He underwent further training at the Emory Clinic before accepting his first consultant position at the John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle in 1995. He then joined Gilbert Ford at John Flynn Hospital in 1996 before becoming the solo cardiothoracic surgeon at Allamanda Hospital in 2001.
Some of us might remember being entertained by John as a pianist/singer at occasional ASCTS meetings. He was also a champion ballroom dancer at national level. He won innumerable show awards as a trainer of a series of champion dogs. At one time, he was ranked 4th in Australia as a windsurfer. It was inspiring to see John effortlessly move in and out of the surf off Manly on his windsurfer before being told by the lifeguard that he was not supposed to be there. Such was John's life. He was an expert sailor, cruising charter boats in many places around the world and often combined those trips with scuba diving adventures. He enjoyed the challenging ski slopes in Europe and the USA. He was truly ambidextrous and as a surgeon, used instruments in the hand that was most convenient.
John married Fiona Lyons in 1983 and they had two sons and a daughter, Aiden, Blake and Jayde, all living in Sydney with the exception of Blake who succumbed from sudden infant death. Their marriage did not survive and John committed all endeavours to surgical training. He married Leigh McLaughlin in 1994 but they separated after settling on the Gold Coast. He established a permanent relationship with Lynda Hynes in 1999.
In 2010, John sustained an incapacitating wrist injury while playing golf. He was unable to work or undertake many of his other activities. This was a great blow and changed his perspective on life. He was unable to see the value that he could still provide in spite of his severe limitation. He lost confidence and had difficulty feeling loved or appreciated despite strong support from those around him. We might describe the path that he then chose as heresy. As John was about to be admitted to the intensive care unit at the Gold Coast Hospital, critically unwell with respiratory and liver failure, he said to his good friend, the intensivist looking after him, "Can we go down to the cafeteria first?" He died shortly thereafter with Lynda, Fiona, Aiden, Jayde and friends at his bedside.
Within the Society, John was unique. Many of us have benefited in many ways from John being John.
Hugh Paterson FRACS
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