David Thompson (13 January 1948–2 July 2024)

Abstract

David Thompson passed away on 2 July 2024. He will be remembered as an indomitable spirit by all who worked with him.

Raised in Pietermaritzburg, he was exposed to the life of an orthopaedic surgeon by his father, Mungo Thompson, who started Orthopaedic surgery at the then Edendale Hospital (now Harry Gwala Regional Hospital) in 1954. David was a keen sportsman from a young age and was awarded honours in cricket, rugby and hockey at Hilton College. At university, he represented Natal and the Western Province in hockey. As a 20-year-old, with two other medical students, he canoed the 1 000-mile length of the Orange River, only the second to achieve this feat. His love for paddling extended to later adventures with his sons to other rivers such as the Tugela, Fish, Luongwe, Drakensberg, Orange, and, more recently, the Cape Point Surfski challenge.