Emma Preston died tragically in a skiing accident on the cusp of being appointed as a consultant nephrologist.
Born in Nicosia, Cyprus she came to the UK as a child with her family and was educated at Queenswood School, Hatfield and Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School, graduating in 1995.
Following SHO posts on the general medical rotation at Charing Cross Hospital, and in intensive care at the Whittington Hospital, she gained her first experience in nephrology in Portsmouth. She then spent two years as a research registrar, supervised by Edwina Brown at Charing Cross Hospital, investigating cardiovascular risk factors in chronic kidney disease, leading to an MD degree. She completed the North Thames nephrology training rotation in 2006, and then spent a year on the renal unit at Westmead Hospital, Sydney, Australia. Returning to the UK she was a locum consultant in Brighton and then North Middlesex, and was preparing to be interviewed for a substantive consultant post in north London at the time of her fatal accident.
Emma’s medical work extended beyond the NHS. She was a Captain in the Territorial Army Medical Service maintaining her skills in trauma, and major incident management, and had been medical officer to a large international expedition in Oman.
Emma was an accomplished sportswoman: as a student she skied for the University of London Ski Team and rowed as Captain of the Charing Cross Ladies Boat Club. She continued to ski, sail and play tennis to the end of her short life.
She is fondly remembered as an excellent nephrologist – a very caring and conscientious physician, who had a charming manner with her patients, and a strong sense of the value of holistic care.
Just before she was to be interviewed for a substantive consultant post she went to the Alps as she had done so often, and while skiing was killed in an avalanche.
She is survived by her partner Carol and her family.
