The Honourable Dr. Garth Alfred Taylor, OJ, Ph.D. (29 April 1944 – 19 November 2005) was a Jamaican ophthalmologist, professor, and humanitarian.
Born in Montego Bay, Taylor was a Queen's Scout in his youth.[1] He received his education at Cornwall College in Jamaica and Queen's University in Ontario.[1] He later became an associate professor of ophthalmology at the latter institution,[1] as well as chief of ophthalmology at Cornwall Community Hospital in Canada.[1]
Taylor was also the vice-president of ORBIS Canada,[1] a charity devoted to preventing and correcting avoidable cases of blindness in the developing world, and the co-founder of Canadian Surgical Eye Expeditions (CANSEE),[2] another charitable organization devoted to the same purpose. Working out of a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 airplane converted into a mobile field hospital,[1] he performed more than 1,000 charitable eye operations in more than 60 different countries,[1] during more than 100 separate surgical missions.[3] Taylor also provided on-site training for local doctors in cornea, cataract and refractive procedures.[1] For his efforts, he was honored with the Order of Jamaica in 2005.[4]
Taylor and his wife Beverly had two children: a daughter, Leanne, and a son, Gregory.[1] He died unexpectedly on 19 November 2005, as the result of an aortic aneurysm.[5]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i Hallsworth, Alan. "Obituary: Garth Taylor", The Guardian, 7 December 2005.
- ^ Jamaica Information Service. "Late Dr. Garth Taylor Exceptional – High Commissioner to Canada Archived 14 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine", 28 November 2005.
- ^ Hawaleshka, Danylo. "Garth Taylor Archived 7 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine", Maclean's, 1 July 2004.
- ^ Lalah, Robert. "HONOURED – Ninety-seven to get National Awards Archived 12 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine", The Jamaica Gleaner, 6 August 2005.
- ^ Pincock, Stephen. "Garth Alfred Taylor", The Lancet, Volume 367, Issue 9506, Page 204, published January 21, 2006.