CARDIOVASCULAR JOURNAL OF AFRICA • Vol 23, No 6, July 2012
AFRICA
347
In Memoriam
Prof Andrzej Michael Okreglicki, 1960–2012
It was with shock and great sadness
that we learned of the sudden death of
Prof Andrzej Michael Okreglicki, better
known as AO. He was killed in a car
accident while returning from a 100-mile
run in Cornwall, UK on Sunday 24 June.
At the time of his death he was associate
professor in the Division of Cardiology,
Department of Medicine, University of
Cape Town, president of the Cardiac
Arrhythmia Society of South Africa
(CASSA) and a member of the Education
Standing Committee of the South African
Heart Association. He was co-founder
of PACE (Prevent Arrhythmic Cardiac
Events), an advocacy organisation for lay
persons.
AO qualified with an MB BCh with
honours at the University of Cape Town
(UCT) in 1983. After completing his
internship at Groote Schuur Hospital
(GSH) in 1984, he spent two years as a
medical officer in Nqutu and Mseleni in
KwaZulu. He joined the Cardiac Clinic
at GSH in 1987 as a senior house officer.
After completing his registrarship and
obtaining his FCP (SA) in 1992, he
came back as a senior registrar to train
in Cardiology, earning his MMed (UCT)
in 1996.
During this time, he became inter-
ested in cardiac electrophysiology,
which led to further training and experi-
ence in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK, and
Rochester, New York. He returned to
the Cardiac Clinic as a consultant in
1999, having gained wide and valuable
experience in electrophysiology, pacing
and implantable cardioverter defibrilla-
tors. This experience proved invaluable in
improving and expanding the arrhythmia
and electrophysiology service at Groote
Schuur, the only such service at a public
hospital in South Africa. As a result, he
dealt with referrals from all over southern
Africa.
Since taking charge of electrophysiol-
ogy and pacing in 2006, his passion and
enthusiasm has inspired at least six young
people to embark on training in electro-
physiology. It is these protégés who are
his major legacy. They will have to take
over and maintain the very high standards
he set, but his passing has left a huge void
that will be difficult to fill.
AO was a unique person and a man
of many parts. He was much more than
an electrophysiologist. Very few in that
field shared his ability to cope with so
many different aspects of medicine and
cardiology, from bedside skills to dealing
with emergencies, andbeing a very capable
plumber as well as cardiac electrician. In
addition to his clinical skills, he was
the ‘Mr Fixit’ and ‘MacGyver’ for the
clinic, the one who knew how to get the
projector to work with a visiting speaker’s
computer. He redesigned the auditorium,
catheter laboratory and physical layout of
the department.
His quiet manner belied a strong will
and determination that things should
be done the right way, but without
unnecessary confrontation. He earned
the love and respect of all his fellow
workers, from consultants to cleaners.
He was renowned for his endurance
during difficult procedures, carrying on
and achieving a successful outcome long
after most of us would have given up.
This same determination and endurance
also manifested itself in his long-distance
running, starting with his first Comrade’s
Marathon 10 years ago. He had completed
the last of his many 100-mile endurance
races the day before his death. His mental
toughness was probably more important
than physical prowess as the key to his
success in these endeavours.
As a teacher, AO was outstanding and
enthusiastic, as well as being patient with
those slow to see what he saw in a difficult
ECG. He was tireless in running CASSA
workshops for general practitioners and
others throughout the Cape, and his ECG
workshops at SA Heart congresses always
attracted a large audience. At a personal
level, having previously been his teacher,
I found myself continually learning new
insights and fresh approaches to cardiac
arrhythmias from AO.
He single-handedly took on the task
of providing an electrophysiology service
at Inkosi Albert Luthuli Hospital in
Durban, with regular visits every few
months to deal with cases and to teach
and stimulate the doctors there. As the
only electrophysiologist in the full-
time employ of an academic hospital,
he took responsibility for all local
training in cardiac electrophysiology.
He organised sponsorship for a two-year
electrophysiology fellowship at GSH. The
first incumbent completes his training in
November.
Under the auspices of the Pan-African
Society of Cardiology (PASCAR) he
developed a six-month programme to
train physicians, nurses and technologists
from the rest of Africa in the skills of
basic life-saving cardiac pacing for heart
block, presently available in only four of
56 African countries. The first candidate
is due to start in January next year.
With his career tragically cut short,
South Africa has lost a national treasure
in a field that is still desperately short of
qualified practitioners. Those of us who
knew him have lost a friend and colleague
who will be sorely missed. He is survived
by his parents and brother, Stefan Antoni.
Rob Scott Millar
