It was with great sadness that I heard,last night, about the death of a former work colleague from my Spinal Injury Unit days. Consultant Mr Ravichandran (or just plain "Ravi" as he was universally better known as ) was the dynamic,sometimes infuriating but always vital heart of "spines". For years I had the privilege to experience his sharp, holistic and invariably client based perspectives of rehabilitation, and even though I often disagreed with the way he viewed some aspects of the world, I always felt respected in my own professional judgements and ideas.
Ravi enjoyed being the "daddy" of the unit. He had his favourite nurses and therapists, which he would always seek out for the odd lively and sometimes heated debate and seemed to delight in throwing in a grenade of a provocative statement and watching the effect it had on an individual or group. He often polarised opinions but always commanded a very real affection and respect from his staff and I think the reason for this was the fact that he would always go that extra mile to show his support for people.
When I left Sheffield I did miss his dapper slightly awkward figure popping in and out, in a slightly harassed and seemingly arbitrary way. He was as much a part of the place as the bricks and mortar