Vivian Francis Sorrell
Vivian Francis Sorrell FRCS FRACS
31 October 1934 - 3 November 2015
General & Vascular Surgeon
Vivian Francis Sorrell died in Auckland aged 81, after a brief illness. He was a pioneer New Zealand liver and bariatric surgeon.
Viv (as he was commonly known) was born in Hobsonville, Auckland to Frederick Sorrell, an aeronautical engineer, and Doris Hopkins, an artist and seamstress. He had an older brother, Len, and a younger sister, Irene. The family moved to Wellington when Viv was an infant, returning to Auckland when he was nine years old. Following primary education at Epsom Normal School, Viv attended Auckland Grammar School where he excelled academically and on the sports field. In his final year he captained the First XI football team and he was also a very good cross country runner finishing first or second in the school "steeplechase" four years in succession.
Following the completion of his medical intermediate year at Auckland University in 1953, Viv gained entry to the Otago Medical School, graduating in 1958. During vacations he worked in pea paddocks and freezing works to earn sufficient money to cover the costs of accommodation and study. Following two years as a house surgeon in Auckland Hospital he spent a year in Dunedin as an anatomy demonstrator in preparation for the Primary Fellowship examination in which he was successful. In 1960 Viv married Beverly Downes, a nurse he met on his last day at Cornwall Hospital while he was doing paediatric surgery. Bev had gotten a twig in her eye and Viv was on the ward and then asked her out.
Against the local surgical advice, Viv decided to move to the UK to commence his surgical training. Working as ship's doctor Viv travelled to England with Bev in 1961 - a voyage marked by numerous breakdowns (and the ship subsequently being immediately removed from service as unseaworthy). He secured work in London and Manchester, where he worked with HB Torrance, and during 1964 obtained both the London and Edinburgh Fellowships. There he was stimulated to follow a career-long interest in weight loss surgery and the metabolic effects of such surgery. In this field of practice Sam Burcher was his mentor and together they did NZ's first gastric bypass.
Viv and Bev returned to Auckland in 1966 and Viv obtained his FRACS the same year. His initial role was as tutor specialist, but he rapidly moved to a substantive appointment at Middlemore Hospital in the southern part of the city - initially as full-time and in 1973 as part-time specialist general surgeon. Viv was to dedicate his entire 30-plus year public hospital career to Middlemore Hospital. In addition, he held a Senior Lecturer teaching appointment with the University of Auckland. Viv's surgical practice encompassed the whole array of General and Vascular Surgery with two notable "firsts" in New Zealand surgery. He was involved in the country's first surgical bypass operation for obesity and also the first known hepatic resection of a colorectal metastasis. This latter procedure, in 1975, was achieved despite the only pre-operative imaging available in Auckland being an ultrasound machine dedicated to obstetric use at National Women's Hospital. The patient who underwent this historic procedure remains alive and well over 40 years later. Viv pioneered vascular surgery at Middlemore Hospital, and was instrumental in securing the first operating microscope for Middlemore.
In 1975 Viv was teamed with Neil Officer at Middlemore. The Sorrell/Officer run subsequently became a most sought-after attachment for General Surgery trainees. Generations of house surgeons and surgical registrars rotated through the team and each gained much, for Viv was a careful and meticulous surgeon. Always very considerate and supportive, he was regarded as a great colleague, becoming mentor and friend to many surgeons and trainees. He proudly and unashamedly battled for general surgical resources at Middlemore at a time when the unit was chronically under-resourced, serving as head of department in 1986 and 1997. Viv served as a College examiner, a member of the Part I Board and as a very active member of the NZ Committee of the College.
Following his retirement from Middlemore in 2000 he remained active providing medicolegal advice, particularly to the Accident Compensation Corporation, and continued to hold his annual Practicing Certificate until the time of his death. Outside surgery, Viv was a fine and highly competitive golfer and a dedicated owner of a number of Boxer dogs. He was a member of the Northern Club for 15 years and enjoyed travel.
Most importantly he was a devoted husband to Bev and a very proud father of Karynne (general practitioner), Diane (physiotherapist) and David (acute care practitioner) and grandfather to nine children.
This obituary is based upon material provided by Andrew Connolly FRACS, David Adams FRACS and David Sorrell FAMPA
While RACS accepts and reproduces obituaries provided, we cannot ensure the accuracy of the information provided and therefore take no responsibility for any inaccuracies or omissions that may occur.