Surgeon who rode to fame
A Victorian surgeon from St Mark's Hospital carved out a second career as a champion cyclist.
Percy Furnivall though nothing of following a long gruelling day in hospital by saddling up and putting the miles in.
The surgeon, who worked at what is now St Mark's National Bowel Hospital in Park Royal, sported an impressive handlebar moustache and was the author of Physical Training for High-Speed Competitions.
The book advised cyclists to abstain from temptations including alcohol, tobacco, and pickles, and 'never forget you are a sportsman and a gentleman.'
Percy held multiple amateur records on the bicycle, tricycle and tandem and is credited with being the first person to carry out heart surgery on a patient stabbed in the chest in 1903.
He appeared, later in life, not to take his own advice with one colleague describing him as 'a tall gaunt figure in a great fur coat, smoking an enormous cigar as he stepped out from one of the earliest of motor cars.'
Percy was later diagnosed with throat cancer and sparked a debate in the medical community about the newer forms of cancer treatment using radium and x-rays compared to traditional surgical methods.