Surgeon leaves London lights

Adam El-Gamel is renowned internationally as a cardiac surgeon. He has worked in the world’s most prestigious medical and research institutions. But if he ever lays down his scalpel at Waikato Hospital, he has job options. One is as a shearer. “When we arrived in the Waikato, my wife Valerie and I went to an agricultural show. I tried my hand at shearing an alpaca and won third prize. The guy said, ‘I’ve got a whole bunch more out the back if you want to do them, too’.”

The lush pastures of the Waikato are lightyears from his life in London, where, until 2009, he headed cardiac services at Kings College Hospital. In that city, his day began at 5.30am when he cajoled his sleepy son out of bed, walked the dog in the cold and dark, then drove to work – a 10km trip that could take an hour.

Near the foothills of Mt Pirongia, where he and Valerie have lived for seven years, his commute to Waikato Hospital is three times as far, but takes 15 minutes. Before he heads to work, he has a leisurely coffee, checks the alpacas, sheep and cattle on the couple’s 5.2ha lifestyle block, and takes photos of the mountain bathed in mist.

The decision to swap the bright lights of London for a village with one traffic light, was made by his wife, Valerie, a former practice nurse, and now a fabric artist. “I was rolling on the hamster wheel in London. I thought everyone was happy.” Unbeknown to Adam, Valerie had put his name forward for a position at Waikato Hospital in Hamilton. During a family holiday in Australia, he took a call to say he had been shortlisted.

King’s College Hospital said it was a ‘mid-life crisis’ and offered him a year’s sabbatical. “When I’d been here just six months, I told them ‘thanks, but no thanks’.” Within days of arrival, Valerie had organised a school for son, Oliver, a university for daughter, Nancy, and found a house.

Adam is clinical director of Waikato Hospital’s cardiothoracic department and also works at Braemar Private Hospital. He celebrates every day the decision to come to the Waikato. “There are millions of me in London. But not here.” Egyptian by birth, he is passionate about rugby. At a game in Hamilton, he was mistaken for Maori by another group of Maori fans, which he took as confirmation he was truly a Waikato boy.

http://www.waikatodhb.health.nz