I have known Neil since he was a fresh intern at RPA in 1979.

He has always been a most obliging “good bloke”.  His relaxed, always friendly “country boy” approach to life is always refreshing.  Nothing is ever too much trouble for Neil. We shared many hours together in the operating theatre doing many complex procedures as well as transplants. The fact that we have never had any unexpected intra-operative complications or death is no doubt due to Neil’s diligent preparation, care, experience and expertise.  Neil’s  dedication to the Anaesthetic Department at the Children’s Hospital is legendary.  A great hallmark of an insightful inspirational leader is to leave the department in a great or better state when he/she leaves. Neil certainly has done that. You will always be remembered as a great friend and colleague Neil. My life and the life of numerous children have certainly benefited from your inspirational existence and service! 

- Dr Albert Shun, AM, Clinical Associate Professor, The University of Sydney, Senior General Surgeon and Transplant Surgeon, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead.

 Streety was such a great man to work with. He was very approachable, gentle and fatherly. He always had jokes to tell or created something to smile or laugh about in a difficult situation. I learnt so much from during his visits with the Open Heart team to PNG and during my short time at Children's Hospital Westmead. Over the years since he had become a very close friend. During one of those visits to PNG [2016 or 2017], I asked him to give a talk on paediatric cardiac anaesthesia, at the first local cardiac conference. He said no you give the talk and I will answer the questions, and I said no we want to hear from our overseas colleagues so you need to talk, and we kept going back and forth through out the day and night. And by morning on the conference day we had both prepared something to present so we both ended up at the podium.. I started presenting first then I asked him up he talked and continued until the chairperson had to ring the bell and told us we had run out of time so we had to sit down quickly...hahaha. it was fun.... So long Streety. Will be missing you alot.

- Dr Arvin Karu, Cardiothoracic Anaesthetist, Port Moresby General Hsopital. PNG 

Neil was an absolute whiz at all things electronic, and could make things much cheaper than they could be bought ( which definitely appealed to him). When we did CT scans at Camperdown, the children would be anaesthetised for an hour or more ( much slower than today). Neil made a FM precordial stethoscope from parts he bought at Tandy or Dick Smith for about $20. This let us hear the child's heart and breath sounds without the exposure to the radiation. It was a pocket FM radio with a few other bits of pieces.

We thought this was fantastic until the day Neil asked the registrar if the child was OK during the scan - the registrar said " yes and Australia is 4 wickets for 149 !" He had changed the station to listen to the cricket and not the patient ! Neil was not impressed !

- Dr Michael Cooper, AM, Senior Anaesthetist, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead and St George Hospital, Chair of the Paediatric Committee of the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists, Adjunct Professor of Anesthesiology, University of PNG.

Very few people touch your life the way Neil did! He genuinely cared, he would always tease me about “smiling too much” and “power dressing” but always made sure I was okay and was extremely supportive of research. What a privilege it was when Neil asked me to come on-board to be a part of the MH team! His enthusiasm, passion and dedication to MH work always inspired me and he always made it so much fun!! Will miss you dearly!!

- Dr Minal Menezes, Senior Research Officer, Dept of Anaesthesia, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead.

I first met Neil around 13 years ago when I got involved with malignant hyperthermia (MH) work. We got on well straight away, which I suspect was probably common for a lot of people who met Neil. The MH world is a small one so losing Neil is like losing a family member. I’m missing him, even though we only met up once a year at the annual MHANZ meetings. It’s impossible to do justice to Neil without a long essay so I’ll just say he was a truly great bloke. I’ll be raising (and sinking) a glass or two in his memory tonight (which more or less summarises what we did at the annual meetings). To Cathy, have a virtual hug from me. 

- Dr Philip Nelson, Consultant, MH Investigation Unit, Dept of Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine, Royal Perth Hospital.

Just as you were, you will always be a beautiful part of our memory.

- Dr Patrick Rubie, Anaesthetics Fellow, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead.

Gone too soon. Goodbye Neil. I’ll miss you.
I loved him. We all did. 
He had a boyish charm and sense of fun, with a cheeky smile, a twinkle in his eye and an irreverent sense of humour. He was an all round great Aussie bloke that made everyone around him feel happy, comfortable and at ease.
He was the best of men. An inspiration and a friend.
He was fiercely loyal and loved his family above all else.
He was a reluctant but great leader, leading by example with kindness, diligence, service and humour. He genuinely cared about everyone and it was a privilege to work with him.
He was wise, intelligent and insightful, yet humble and unpretentious. He was the most skilful and talented clinician, technician and teacher, making everything seem effortless and easy.
I feel so lucky to have spent Fridays with Neil. The best day of the week.
Cheers and love always, Pfitzy

- Dr Lian Pfitzner, CHW Anaesthetist

I only had the good fortune to get to know Neil when I started as a locum consultant at CHW in May 2018.
I’d just come back from my fellowship in Ireland and was completely new to CHW. Whilst everyone was extremely welcoming and friendly Neil really went out of his way to make sure I was ok. At the end of my first week Sally Wharton organised wine and nibbles in the department and Neil made a point of staying back and sharing a drink with us all. Made the first week in a new place so much less daunting! 
Such a kind gentle man with a fantastic sense of humour! Rest In Peace Neil. You were an amazing head of department and a wonderful human being.

- Dr Kat Lanigan, Paediatric Anaesthetist, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead (and other places).

I worked with Neil for decades at CHW and will always remember his great ability to turn an irrational request into a rational response. He was simply the nicest of people, calm, humorous, and sensible. He had such a rare ability to combine high quality clinical practice with a sharp research mind and his celebrated ability to inspire his colleagues in practice and in administration to produce their best. It would be apt to say that he dedicated himself completely to the highest standards of clinical and administrative practice for the sake of making sick children well. His presence will be badly missed, his influence will be ever present.

- Dr John Harvey, Paediatric Surgeon and Former Head of the NSW Paediatric Severe Burns Injury Service, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead.

Miss you Streety. You were one of the world’s great people, in my eyes. I am so thankful I had the opportunity to meet you here at the Kids at Westmead, many a year ago, and also in PNG. What wonderful trips they were. You made such a difference to our patients and to all of us, with your compassion, wit, love, expertise and love. I really hope you knew knew all of this and how many lives you touched, Miss you xx.

- Sam O’Mara.

It was a sad day last week, when the news filtered through to me of Neil's passing.

Neil made an extraordinary contribution to Open Heart International, particularly in PNG where he was instrumental in mentoring clinicians and further developing cardiac anaesthesia capacity. From 1996-2018 Neil volunteered 14 times in PNG and one time in Myanmar. The words and tributes that have flowed from PNG are testament to what a profound impact he had on the those he came into contact with in PNG. He will be sadly missed by all his PNG colleagues who learned so much from him.

Part of the reason why Open Heart International is so successful is that those that volunteer are at the top of their profession. Neil unequivocally checked all those boxes.  

However, the camaraderie and the feeling of 'family' that develops in a bunch of disparate people who volunteer year after year and congregate in one spot (such as Port Moresby) is the other half of OHI's success. The fun, the friendship, the good times, and the 'stories on tour' from the past decade in PNG have Streety's DNA all over them.  

Fittingly he was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia in 2015 for his contribution to medicine here in Australia and abroad.

On behalf of the entire family at Open Heart International, we express our deepest condolences to Neil's family. We are better people for having Neil in our lives.

- Michael Were, General Manager, Open Heart International

 Neil was simply one of my best friends. I will miss him enormously. 
We both graduated from "Kenso Tech" in the double graduation of 1979, though he was in the 6 year course and I was in the 5 year course. We did training and exams together, though I was following in his wake, partly due to a period of maternity leave. We were both anaesthetic fellows at The Royal Hospital for Children Camperdown. He was given a staff job after returning from Great Ormond Street and I went to Westmead Hospital doing paediatric anaesthetics there. We were able to organise for Neil came to Westmead Dental Hospital to do a regular paediatric dental list. This continued for many years and lead to a close long term professional relationship between Neil and the paediatric dentists. It also gave him the contacts he needed to set up a site to do his adult muscle biopsies for the MH unit. To this day they are still done in the Westmead Dental Hospital. When the New Children's Hospital was built at Westmead I again became part of the Children's Hospital Anaesthetic Department and had the pleasure of working more closely again with Neil.
Neil loved to tinker with things. I used to hear about "Dolly" the Triumph Dolomite he and Douglas were restoring in the garage. He helped me make my own fm radio precordial stethoscope.  
He was a wonderful calm and pragmatic individual and was able to add humour to the most stressful situations. He was amazingly unselfish and tolerant. He was also gentle and unpretentious. He faced his illness bravely and in his typical realistic way. I am very sorry to lose him from our lives and wish all the best for Cathy, Phillipa, Douglas and Alice in this sad time.

- Dr Jane McDonald, Paediatric (and other) Anaesthetist, formerly CHW and ongoing at Westmead Hospital.

 Neil was the type of person that you would meet once in a lifetime. He was a kind, gentle and down to earth man. He was funny and always wore the biggest heartiest smile. Even in the most trickiest of moments in the workplace, one knew you were safe and everything would be ok if Uncle Neil was around. Neil was a worldly unsung hero in many ways, his personality was both warm and contagious and he was an exceptionally skilled professional. 

Neil will live on in the hearts of all the people & lives he touched throughout his precious lifetime and he will be remembered forever. 

- Louise Kenneally, Open Heart International team member & PICU Nurse.

 I’m one of Neil’s “bloody rellies”. Growing up in Scotland, I first met Neil in 1961 when my extraordinary aunt travelled round the world with her three kids. That summer we packed into a hire car, 3 adults in the front and 5 kids in the back, and took off for a memorable beach holiday in north-east Scotland: staying in the sea until we were numb all over, Neil & I both without one front tooth. 

Later, Neil neglected to mention to the family that he was an expert anesthetist or that he did highly skilled volunteer work overseas – we had to read that in the paper. What we did know was that he was the one in the family who magically appeared when things were tough. My mum died when I was in Antarctica. Somehow, within hours, Neil had found out how to get in touch and had phoned me to check I was OK and share the grieving for “auntie Al”. It’s trite to say he was one in a million but there it is…...

- Pat Langhorne, Dunedin, New Zealand