Antony Todd Young

15 August 1951–7 September 2019

It is with great sadness that we acknowledge the recent death of Dr Tony Young.

Tony was the son of Dr Ted and Prue Young. Ted was a Christchurch GP who practiced for many years from his home in Barrington Street.

Tony attended Somerfield and Cathedral Grammar primary schools and then went on to Christ’s College with a scholarship. At school he showed his outstanding academic ability being Dux of Christ’s College and being in the top 10 in New Zealand in the New Zealand Scholarship exams in his last year.

Having left school Tony went down to Dunedin to study Medicine. He was in Selwyn College for three years and in his last year was President. In his fourth Year he came up to Christchurch in the inaugural year of the Christchurch Clinical School.

He graduated in 1975 and was a house surgeon at Christchurch Hospital. Not being quite ready to settle down, he did some general practice in Australia before heading off through Asia on the old “Hippie Trail”, eventually arriving in London. After working briefly in England he returned to Christchurch to take up a post as a radiology registrar. He did his basic training here, being awarded the FRANZCR in 1983, along with the HR Sear prize for the best candidate in the final examination. This was followed by fellowships at the University of Minnesota Hospital in the US, and the Hammersmith Hospital in the UK from 1982 until 1985.

While working enormous hours in the intervention suites in America, Tony somehow also found time to co-author many of his 36 scientific publications. During his career he also presented at 10 scientific meetings.

Tony and his family returned to Christchurch where he was a consultant radiologist from 1986 until his retirement in 2016. We were very lucky to have him return to Christchurch as he could probably have obtained a job anywhere in the world. He was the first true interventional radiologist in the South Island and during his career oversaw the growth of this subspecialty to the point where it now plays a pivotal role in the management of many surgical and medical patients. In addition to pioneering many procedures that are now commonplace, Tony fostered and enhanced the roles of radiographers and radiology nurses with the aim of improving patient care, outcomes and efficiency.

Tony’s wonderful sense of humour and enthusiasm for life made him very popular wherever he worked. His surgical and anaesthesia colleagues very much enjoyed his theatre banter, while at the same time admiring his wonderful interventional abilities. His relaxed approach with no great fanfare meant patients felt very comfortable under his expert care.

Tony was an active member of RANZCR, holding various positions over the years and was also the managing radiologist of Christchurch Radiology Group, and subsequently Pacific Radiology for 17 years. During his years at the helm of these groups he oversaw a huge expansion, with Pacific Radiology becoming one of the leading Radiology groups in Australasia.

Tony was hugely talented, he was both highly intellectual and extremely practical and was at his best dealing with high-risk, complex cases. He was extremely approachable with a “can do” attitude, cheerfully accepting further cases, no matter how great the work load.

Tony’s radiology legacy is a very strong interventional radiology department, the younger radiologists whom he inspired with his skill and enthusiasm and the many MRTs and nurses who became integral members of the team.

Outside of work, Tony’s happy place was in the Marlborough Sounds, surrounded by friends and family. He loved being on the water whether it was waterskiing, fishing, diving or just relaxing with a glass of wine. Tony, along with his wife Judith, was very generous in sharing his special place and his large group of friends were the beneficiaries of this. He also loved travelling and he and Judith spent six months travelling around Europe after he retired from Christchurch Hospital.

Tony Young was a very special man. The combination of a huge intellect, huge generosity, huge enthusiasm for life, a wonderful sense of humour, great practical skills and a desire to always help out if asked, made him very unique. He set a great example to all of us to try and follow.

In all aspects of his life Tony was of course very much supported by his amazing wife Judith. he could not have achieved everything he did without her. Her support also included nursing him at home during his final illness—something he very much wanted.

As well as Judith, Tony is survived by his children George, Alex and Harriet and grandchildren Oliver and Harry who he very much adored and was very proud of.

Republished with kind permission from Canterbury District Health Board.

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