 After 37 years and more than 10,000 heart operations, eminent St George cardio thoracic surgeon Dr David Horton has retired.
Dr Horton, a regular fixture at OKI Jubilee Stadium during footy season and member of St George Leagues Club since first moving to the area in 1959, said he recently decided it was time to hang up his white coat.
Dr Horton said he and wife Patricia planned to travel and attempt to catch up on all the films and theatre his demanding career had prevented them enjoying together.
"Basically I'm 70 years of age I just really want to have time now for myself and my family," said Dr Horton, the founder of St George Hospital's respected cardio unit in 1985.
"In essence I have been on call all the time for all those years, simply because you have a responsibility to all of your patients.
"It wasn't easy going to things like plays or the movies, where you are likely to be interrupted, in the old days with a pager and now with a mobile phone.
"You could never really have more than a glass of wine and it so it just became something I didn't do. You always have a thought in the back of your mind that you couldn't ever be in a situation where you couldn't look after someone.
"And as you get older you don't have the same energy. I was getting more tired than I was ten years ago. I was still operating well but inevitably as you get older your physical assets decline.
"I didn't want to get into a situation where I wasn't operating as well as I wanted to. I wanted to stop at a time of my own choosing rather than waiting for a successor to tap me on the shoulder."
Dr Horton said he also planned to improve his golf swing and enjoy more time with his grandchildren. Despite his retirement, Dr Horton is not completely cutting ties with St George Hospital. His son David is also a cardio thoracic surgeon there and he plans to help continue the long association between the hospital and St George Leagues Club.
"There have long been strong ties between St George Hospital and the club. Club chairman Warren Lockwood was CEO of St George Hospital when we started the cardio unit in 1985, and Peter Doust is also Deputy CEO of the hospital.
"The hospital has had a long association with the Leagues Club and the Club has been extremely generous, donating $100,000 over three years to the cardio thoracic unit. A club fund raiser when the unit started in 1985 raised more than $80,000 in one night."
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St George Leagues Club
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