FOUR days after joining the army as a cadet in 1959, Peter
Stanworth decided it wasn’t for him and left to pursue a career as a
neurosurgeon.
Fifty years later Lieutenant Colonel Stanworth has been
awarded an OBE after revolutionising the treatment of the nervous system in war
zones around the world as a Territorial Army volunteer.
The 68-year-old, from Burton Green, had a successful career
as a consultant neurosurgeon at University
Hospital in Coventry
alongside continuous TA service since 1961 in conflicts such as Kosovo, Cyprus,
Afghanistan and Iraq twice.
“I was a bit taken aback when I heard because I didn’t think
it was justified,” he said.
“I was the first neurosurgeon to go out to Helmand Province
where we typically dealt with a penetrating brain injury once every one to two
weeks. I realised there was more we should be doing to improve the service and
introduce neurosurgery into operational theatres.
“So I went to see the surgeon general and made a case to him
to bring more specialist neurosurgeons out to theatre and now there is a small
group of neurosurgeons who are leading the way treating brain injuries in
theatre.”
Two years ago Lt Col Stanworth was appointed as defence
consultant adviser to the surgeon general.
Now retired from his post at University Hospital,
Lt Col Stanworth still works there under an honorary contract and sees patients
at his private consulting rooms in Warwickshire.
His citations for the award read: “Lt Col Stanworth has been
an unfailing source of mature and practical advice, leading and inspiring a
tiny cadre of reservist neurosurgeons.
“The fact that there are so few in his speciality and no
regulars has not been without its challenges and, yet, Colonel Stanworth has
not ceased to identify and recommend suitable ways of meeting the needs of
British service patients.”
Lt Col Stanworth, who has three children with his wife
Janet, added: “My employers have been very supportive when I have been
deployed. At times this meant my colleagues had to take on an increased
workload but the hospital was always very supportive.”
Retired headteacher Alan Sturley, 77, of Warwick, was made an MBE for services to
young people in Warwickshire.
He was headteacher of Gresham
Special School
in Leamington for 20 years and has been
chairman of the Warwick Apprenticing Charities, which gives tens of thousands
of pounds to young people to prepare them for higher education or work.
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Coventry News 
