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31st July 2024
It is with the greatest of sadness to announce that on Saturday 13th July 2024 Dr Charles Ilsley passed away at his home aged 74.
Charles was a cornerstone of the field of Interventional Cardiology being one of only 35 cardiologists when he chose that speciality in 1975 (or perhaps more accurately it chose him). He first went to Harefield Hospital as a cardiology registrar in 1977 and in 1979 specialised in Paediatric cardiology, before switching to adults and joining Tony Rickards at the National Heart Hospital in London where they performed the 1st Balloon Angioplasty in any London hospital. Charles left to New Zealand in 1983 to take up a consultant post at Dunedin Hospital. Whilst “down under” he happened to attend a course in Melbourne where Andreas Gruentzig was teaching. This was a transformative experience and Charles swiftly led Dunedin to be the top centre in New Zealand initiating a 24/7 primary angioplasty service to treat STEMI patients. Charles returned to Harefield as consultant in 1987 and throughout the 1990’s and 2000’s led the rapid expansion of Harefield to be the centre it is today. When you asked him what made him most proud in his career, it was the development of a 24/7 heart attack service and teaching several generations of cardiologists. Throughout his career, Charles was a Loyal BCIS member and attended numerous medical conferences over the years. He was a fantastic teacher and mentor because he had the experience, confidence and unparalleled skills to allow his fellows to make mistakes, talk them through fixing them – knowing that he could pull any situation back from the brink if he had to. Fixing patients was what he loved to do and there are countless families that have benefited from his expertise.
Charles lived life to the full, enjoying all sports from Rugby to Skiing and became an enthusiastic scuba diver over the past 25 years.
One of the many charities he supported was the RNLI and the Salcombe Field of Light was his chosen charity. It is to commemorate their 200 year anniversary and help fund the live saving work of the RNLI. You can view the website and donate here. Please reference “Charles” after you name should you wish to make a donation.
On behalf of Charles Ilsley’s family.