One-legged surgeon stood tall
King Rectum is some nickname to live up to but in medical parlance was a tribute to the skills of John Percy Lockhart Mummery.
The St Mark’s surgeon lost a leg to cancer as a young man but it failed to hinder an extraordinary career which included numerous accolades and authoring six books on colorectal surgery.
He helping establish the world’s first Polyposis Register which treats successive generations of families affected by a group of cancer carrying genes as well as being one of the founding fathers of what is today Cancer Research UK
His son, Hugh, followed in his father’s footsteps working at St Mark’s and also as the senior surgeon to the Royal Family.