My twin brother, Martyn Webster, who has died aged 86, was influential in the development of microsurgery both in the UK and internationally.
In 1971 he joined the Canniesburn regional plastic surgery unit at Glasgow Royal Infirmary, one of the UK’s most respected centres for reconstructive surgery, with an international reputation as a centre of excellence, and in 1976 he became a consultant and senior lecturer there. His clinical experience covered a wide range of reconstructive procedures, especially microsurgery, head and neck surgery, hand surgery and breast reconstruction.
He was a founding member of the early microsurgical societies – including the Microsurgery Travelling Club (1977) and the British Microsurgical Society (1981). He developed and directed training courses in microsurgery, and in 1986 published Free Tissue Transfer, one of the earliest books on the subject.
Martyn and I were born in Glasgow, sons of Sheila (nee MacLennan) and Gordon Webster. Our father and paternal grandfather were both stained-glass artists. Martyn was educated at Glasgow academy and Rugby school, and studied medicine at Glasgow University, graduating in 1963. In 1964 he married Shery Rogers, whose brothers Tony and Keith studied with him there. During his time as a student, Martyn also had a job as a lamplighter in the Partick area of Glasgow, finding that the limited hours did not impact on his studies or social life.
After graduation he worked in pathology at Glasgow Royal Infirmary, then started his formal training as a surgeon in 1968, and joined the Canniesburn unit three years later.
He was an excellent teacher and a distinguished lecturer, and his expertise was appreciated all over the world. He was president of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons in 1994-95, and president of the European Association of Plastic Surgeons in 2000-01.
From the early 1990s onwards he also worked in west Africa with ReSurge Africa, a charity focused on training local doctors in reconstructive surgical techniques, and was the director there from 2011-22. He saw this as the long-term solution to medical problems in the region, rather than short-term visiting teams. He led the development of the burns unit at the Korle-Bu hospital in Accra, Ghana, and he also set up a similar unit in Sierra Leone. Although he retired from the NHS in 2006, he continued to work in west Africa until 2021.
Martyn was a keen sailor, owning several classic keelboats. His considerable efforts to save the Scottish Islander class are documented in a 2023 book by his friend Ewan Kennedy. He promoted the pleasure of sailing, rather than a single-minded determination to win, although he could also be competitive. (It was said that he knew every rock on the Scottish west coast, as he had hit most of them.)
Martyn’s eldest daughter, Amanda, died aged seven. He is survived by Shery and their three other children, Emma-Jo, Toby and Timothy, seven grandchildren, and me.
