I am writing and sending this from Muscat with deep regret that I cannot be with you all tomorrow as you bid goodbye to Simon.  Alison and I were greatly touched when Margaret contacted me and asked me to speak and I find myself struggling to really express what a debt of gratitude and respect I and many of my colleagues here in Oman have to him. I will try and summarize my memories and my thoughts and feelings. I hope I can do justice to what was ultimately an enduring friendship of 24 years.
My first encounter with Simon was in his office at 8 in the morning in 1996. He had just, recently, taken up the professor’s post at Liverpool. I, a total stranger also recently arrived in the Mersey region looking for training in orthopaedics. Having struggled to get past the secretary, I used alternative means to approach Simon directly. I was there at 6:30 am, waiting! The meeting was brief and to the point. Each of us knew and expressed what he wanted and what he could offer. I left his office with a draft of a research project. The topic was very un-orthopaedic - it was related to Baysian statistics! But that was Simon, always straight to the point. To use his term – “pathologically honest”. He challenged conventional wisdom, archaic traditions, and preconceived prejudices. This may have upset some people, however it opened doors for others who were prepared to use alternative approaches and novel ideas to unravel the complexity of the conditions we deal with.
I remember Simon asking in one of the weekly afternoon teaching sessions in 1998, how many registrars had laptops. Only two hands went up. “Dinosaurs” he declared!  Simon’s firm belief that traditional clinical approaches could no longer provide all the answers are reflected in the multidisciplinary research and clinical teams he created and the well-deserved status to which he elevated the non-medical members. Simon was dynamic and embraced change and innovation.
Simon was someone whom I knew I could always call upon for honest and well-intentioned advice. I enlisted his help to secure training for my future colleagues in the new orthopaedic department at Sultan Qaboos University Hospital. He always delivered on his promise. They are now the role models for future generations in orthopaedics. The department now has most of the clinical subspecialties with active interest in research and teaching. Simon has had a similar impact in Malaysia and Brunei.  This is the extent of his educational footprint.
Simon visited Oman many times. He enjoyed coming even though all the visits were work related. His schedule was jam-packed from arrival to departure. However, we would enjoy winding down daily in the evening over a cold beer. The Chedi hotel was his unrivalled favorite because of its elegant simplicity and calm ambience and we would while away an evening chatting about all sorts of things from politics to travel and a joke or two. He was in Muscat in June 2007 when Cyclone Gonu struck with 200 km / hr winds causing extensive damage to roads and infrastructure.  He witnessed its force in all its splendor with waves lashing the shoreline outside his beach front hotel room. Simon not someone easily impressed by the ordinary, managed to say “that was quite impressive!”
Certain characteristics stood out in Simon: his capacity to give, his determination, his fortitude. “I never give up” he once declared in our search for a solution around the visa system for overseas trainees. This was apparent when I last visited him, exactly a month prior to his death. He had a wad of work related papers on his lap. He said “I know how this is going to end, eventually, but I can’t give up”.
Seven weeks ago I came over to see Simon. A brilliant mind in a body weakened by disease. We christened the wheelchair that had just been delivered by going out for lunch. He enquired about our late Sultan Qaboos, my family and various trainees’ progress. People that he owed nothing to other than the fact they approached him for help. His capacity at this time to think of others and his stoicism was particularly touching. There are many clinicians here in Oman who are indebted to Simon in securing their training opportunities not only orthopaedics but also plastic surgery, ophthalmology who are now leaders in their respective fields for the foreseeable future.
To demonstrate the respect that Simon was held here in Oman, I am sharing words from some colleagues:
‘Rest in peace Professor. You were a great support to many currently practicing Omani orthopaedic surgeons’ Dr Masoud Al Abdali, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, Khoula Hospital, Muscat
 “Oman has lost a great and sincere friend. We owe him a great deal” Dr Mohamed Al Hosni, Undersecretary for Health Affairs, Ministry of Health, Oman.
“A great loss to orthopaedics and the medical community in general” Dr Ahmed Al Saidi, Minister of Health, Oman.
“Such a wonderful man and mentor.  The orthopaedic community has lost a great mind and a pillar in orthopaedics”. Dr Mohamed Al Mutani, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat.
Farewell Simon, Teacher, Mentor and above all, Friend. Alison and I greatly miss you in Muscat
 
Sultan