Tribute to Araz Pourkashianan

Araz Pourkashianan
6th April 1986 – 23rd November 2020

Araz, beloved husband, father, son, brother and friend died of an intracranial haemorrhage at the age of 34.

He attended Manchester Grammar School before going on to study medicine at the University of Birmingham. He graduated in 2009 and commenced his medical training. He was passionate about anaesthesia and secured a place on the specialist training program at St George’s School of Anaesthesia, part of the London Deanery.

Early on in his training Araz discovered that he had a real interest in regional anaesthesia. He secured a regional anaesthesia fellowship at Frimley Park Hospital in Camberley, where he excelled as a regional fellow. He was instrumental in initiating the block room, in establishing pathways for anaesthesia and analgesia for mastectomies and a pathway for the management of delayed complications of peripheral nerve blockade. His skills in regional anaesthesia were quickly recognised by his teachers and peers as well as the surgeons he worked with. He was awarded the European Diploma in Regional Anaesthesia and Acute Pain Management in 2019. Having just secured a consultant post at Frimley Park Hospital, he was due to take up his new post in February 2021.

Apart from his clinical skills, he will be remembered as a softly-spoken and gentle person. His humility did not allow him to fully appreciate just how exceptional he was. “Kind, Respectful, Responsible, Excellent” are the St George’s values. For Araz these were natural, effortless. This earned him many admirers and friends wherever he went. Working on the frontline against the first outbreak of Covid-19, he created unique bonds between members of the department during long day and night shifts. Consistent with his character, Araz was on the organ donor register and in one final act of altruism, he ensured, that even as he passed, others would carry on living by the light of the flame lit by his torch.

Araz has gone too soon and left so many unfinished projects and ideas. We have an obligation to carry on and remember him. He will be sorely missed by all his colleagues at Frimley Park, St George’s, Croydon University and St Peter’s hospitals. He is survived by his wife Lucy and sons Casper 4 and Leo 1. We pass on our deepest condolences to them and the rest of Araz’s Family.

Rest in peace.

On behalf of Regional Anaesthesia Community
Irfan Raza, Leo Phylactides and Andrzej Krol