A Pretoria ear, nose and throat specialist – who spent his 100th birthday in his consulting room, with patients – said that despite his advanced years, he’s not quite ready to retire yet, reports News24.
Dr John Callaghan said when he was younger, he had thought 80 was old. “But now I’m officially working on my second century. I don’t know how you’re supposed to feel at this age, but I feel good.”
Callaghan has reached his century with only a few minor ailments, like a double hip replacement and a dodgy meniscus in his knee. “I don’t use any blood pressure medication. I take it easy,” he said.
Although he doesn’t operate these days, he still does consultations and “medico-legal stuff”.
“I’m also quite comfortable working on the middle ear with local anaesthetic here at my practice.” he said.
For decades he worked in Pretoria’s city centre, but today his practice is in Brooklyn, away from “the congestion of cars”. He’s swopped the rush of a busy practice for a calm consulting room and can’t imagine walking away. “How does one retire?” he asks. “Do you close the door and sit under a tree? My mind isn’t leaving me yet.”
Callaghan’s wife, Johanna Maria, died 25 years ago. “The last three years of her life she couldn’t speak. She had a brain haemorrhage. I looked after her, suctioned her lungs, changed her catheters – it was a difficult time,” he recalled.
He lives with his son, John William (74), and his daughter-in-law, Ronel (68). John William studied economics and runs his father’s practice, while Ronel is a professor of education at the University of Pretoria. “My existence centres around them … I live a satisfying life,” he said.
Callaghan grew up on a farm, and at his busiest as a specialist, bought his own farm in the Bela-Bela district in Limpopo. He’d go there on weekends to work and unwind. “I’d immunise calves – that was my main distraction.”
He obtained his medical degree at Wits University and started his career at Elim Hospital in Limpopo, and thereafter, worked for many years as a GP in the Greater Marico area. There he did a bit of everything, especially obstetrics.
Later, he did his military training, and “ended up in theatre with Dr Kerneels Swanepoel, an ENT specialist, who saw potential in me and thought I should also specialise in this”. He went on to do various courses in Europe and eventually opened his own practice.
“Medicine is a wonderful, living science – but the patient must come first,” he adds. “For me it’s still always a privilege when a patient trusts you, so therefore, you must pay attention to them.”
Despite his age, he doesn’t want to stop practising yet. It’ll happen, “gradually and naturally”.
“To be where I am now is the most wonderful form of retirement. I’ve only had pleasure from my work.”
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