An edited tribute by Dr Madan Rambarran at Dr `Bud’ Lee’s funeral
In 1978, upon graduation, I returned to Guyana and did my one-year internship at the Georgetown Hospital. My first rotation was in paediatrics with Dr. Walter Chin and my last was with Mr. Wallace Irving Lee in surgery. From then surgery became my professional life’s path as it was Mr. Lee’s. I believe his quiet noise-free discipline, his absolute mastery of his craft, his integrity and his matter-of-fact compassion contributed in no small measure to my choosing a life in surgery. On many occasions he told me I can call him Bud but I was his apprentice and he my teacher and for me he was Mr. Lee.
He was a man of few words; he had no time for long unwieldy argumentation. He made his case and set his standards by action. And when he spoke it was without frills and direct to the problem. I remember serving on a commission of enquiry with him and on occasions the other members, myself included, would go off on interminable discussion of some point or the other and after a little while Mr. Lee would ask a question or make a statement that would bring us all back to the substantive issue.
Mr Lee dedicated his life to surgery for Guyana. As is well known, during the post independence period, we were losing professionals to migration and non-return to Guyana after training. He however remained. He never seems to have gotten excited by promises of the greener pastures elsewhere. He stayed committed and dedicated. What’s more, you would never hear him criticizing or judging those who opted not to come back and stay or those who migrated.
During those times of economic and political transformation, his contribution to establishing the quality and credibility of surgery in Guyana is inestimable. And as was his style he did it quietly without self-aggrandizement and self-promotion. I remember him coming out and draining intracranial bleeds, doing complex abdominal surgery, opening chests and solving congenital abnormalities in newborns all without fanfare and noise. If you suggested to him that that was something awesome and remarkable, he would look at you and wonder what you were talking about. For him, that was what we do; that was simply being a surgeon. And he was the master craftsman. It was in surgery that his personality expressed itself at its fullest – he didn’t dig about, he didn’t prevaricate, he didn’t go down rabbit holes – he stuck to his planes, he isolated the problem and he fixed it elegantly.
As a teacher, again not many words, no berating, it was all by example. He would be there precisely at ten to eight for ward rounds. In the beginning I would trawl in after he had already started; I don’t recall him saying anything but after a little while I didn’t want to be late. Whether it was taking a history, examining a patient or performing a procedure he would demonstrate. You looked and learned.
While there was not much overt flamboyance, he did have his style. I remember sometime in 1984 when it was difficult to get a new car he was assigned one. While others chose automatic Bluebirds and Datsun 280C’s, he chose a canary yellow Toyota Celica sports car with stick shift transmission. In 1985, I was appointed as Medical Superintendent of West Deme-rara Regional Hospital. At that time Mr. Lee was the Head of Surgery at George-town Hospital. In another example of his caring, he took me over to the West Demerara Hospital to look over the set up and resources there and to ensure I would get the fullest support. I remember the smooth elegance with which he drove that lovely machine. His own understated flamboyance.
Mr Lee interacted with thousands of patients and their families. I have never known him to be hurried with them. He was patient. He would listen and he would explain simply and plainly; no beating around the bush. He was never maudlin or dramatic. Like everything else, his compassion was quiet and sincere. He did his best for every patient.
Among the shoulders upon which the development and practice of surgery in Guyana stands, Me Lee’s shoulder is firmly there. He contributed to the conceptualization and establishment of the Univer-sity of Guyana School of Medicine. He fully supported me and the surgical community when we established the postgraduate surgical programme in Guyana. It is my abiding pride that he was honoured for his contribution to surgery at the first Guyana Medical Research conference and Graduation in 2009. It was also a moment of great pride and joy for me when last June he was honoured by the Caribbean College of Surgeons at their conference here in Guyana.
How can we describe the beauty and wonder of his life? How can we describe the beauty and wonder of our lives shared with him? He touched for better the lives of thousands of patients and their families. He influenced positively the practice of surgery. He shared and taught and was taught by thousands of health providers. And he did it all with compassion and integrity. While we mourn his passing, we can rejoice in knowing that his was a wonderful life and we can rejoice in our shared experiences that I know enriched my life and I believe countless thousands.
I extend my heartfelt condolence to Marlene and Rajiv, Diane, Richard and Bruce, grandchildren and all his surviving relatives.
