After I drove a car off the Menangle Bridge, near Camden in 1963, I was flown by air ambulance to the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. When I arrived, Dr Miles Little was on duty as the surgical registrar. He and his team operated on me for almost eight hours and, as a result, saved my life.

Even though I was then barely 19, he also was the first person to tell me that I was an alcoholic
.
This is because, after I was switched from a lengthy stay in ICU, I pulled the drips out of my arm and headed to a pub in my pyjamas. Even though I didn’t get sober in AA until Australia Day 1970, I never forgot these words.

I am forever grateful to this visionary surgeon and wonderful human being.

Ross Fitzgerald, Redfern

The Sydney Morning Herald, November 23, 2023, p 21.