John Anthony Forsyth Charity

14th January 1971 – 17th August 2025

Obituary by Matthew Hubble

It is with great sadness that we share the news that John Charity, Orthopaedic Surgeon and Lead Clinician for Hip Surgery at the Princess Elizabeth Orthopaedic Centre, Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, Exeter, UK, passed away on 17th August 2025. He was 54.

John was born in Sao Paula, Brazil on 14th January 1971. He attended medical school at the Federal University of Sao Paulo, obtaining his MD in 1996. He then completed residency at the Santa Casa Hospital, Sao Paulo, obtaining the Diploma of Specialist in Trauma and Orthopaedics in 2001. John had roots in the South West UK (his grandfather was a clergyman on the edge of Exmoor) and he arranged to visit the Princess Elizabeth Orthopaedic Centre in Exeter in 2001. This visit changed the course of his career and he returned for a year’s fellowship in hip surgery in 2003. John liked Exeter so much, and the team in Exeter him, that he never left.

John became a cornerstone of the department over the subsequent 23 years. He specialised in hip surgery, performing several thousand hip replacements in his career, with phenomenal results in the National Joint Registry. He also led the hip fracture service, helping to transform the quality of care for thousands of patients. Patient care was his upmost priority and he was an attentive, approachable and supportive clinician and an excellent communicator. His patients adored him.

John was also an academic, researcher, educator and mentor. He became a member of the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh in 2006, obtained an MSc in Medical Statistics from the University of Cardiff in 2007 and a Master of Surgery from the University of Edinburgh in 2015, for which he was awarded the Sir Harold Styles Medal for excellence.

Much more importantly than all of this, he was the most kind, caring, modest and decent human being that you might ever wish to meet. He was a fantastic colleague, always willing to cover or support those with whom he worked.

John tragically collapsed and died whilst walking on the coast path. Our deepest condolences go to the family he so adored – his wife Paula and his beloved daughters Nicole and Natalie.