A SURGEON whose pioneering work led to thousands of lives being saved by the introduction of crash helmets has been honoured with a plaque where he lived during the 1920s.

Hugh Cairns, who lived in what is now Woodford School, on the edge of Epping Forest in Whitakers Way, Loughton, was among a team of specialists called on to treat Colonel T E Lawrence, known as Lawrence of Arabia, for head injuries after he fell off his motorbike aged 47 in 1935.

The injuries proved fatal and Sir Hugh was devastated that he could not save Colonel Lawrence, who had risen to the status of a First World War hero after fighting with the Arabs against the Ottoman Empire.

Lawrence also had links to Epping Forest and built a hut in what are now the grounds of The Warren in Loughton, now owned by the forest authorities, as well as setting up Scout and cadet camps at Pole Hill in Chingford, where a monument to him stands.

Following Lawrence’s death five days after he crashed, Sir Hugh started studying head injury in motorbike accidents and how deaths could be prevented.

His research led to crash helmets being issued to army motorcyclists, who had to wear them by law in 1941.

He also set up a hospital specialising in head injuries in Oxford, where he had been a medical student, and in 1973, 20 years after his death, helmets were made compulsory for civilian bikers as well as those in the army.

The foundations for his expertise were laid while he was living in Loughton and working as a general surgeon at the Royal London Hospital.

At the time, Loughton was a popular place for doctors and surgeons from the Bethnal Green hospital to live, as most trains into the city only went as far as the town.

It was also home to many artists and the sculptor Jacob Epstein, known for his public art, lived next door to the Cairns family.

Chris Pond, of the Loughton and District Historical Society, who suggested the town council install the blue plaque, met three of Sir Hugh’s children when the blue plaque was installed on Sunday (January 22).

“They were very pleased indeed and I think they enjoyed their visit to Loughton,” he said. “I think it helps if you have people who actually lived there.

“One of the two sons who lived there was recollecting when his mother, Barbara, found the entrance to their house blocked by a huge sculpture by Epstein.”

He added that he had suggested Loughton Town Council install the blue plaque because of Sir Hugh's tireless work that led to the wider use and development of helmets.

“He was a man who pushed and pushed,” he said. “As Cairns himself in life saved many hundreds of people, so did his dogged advocacy of the crash helmet save countless thousands after his own death.”

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