Dr John Hinds at the North West 200 in 2015.
He died less than two weeks later following an accident at the Skerries 100 race meeting on his BMW machine.

Irish motorcycling lost an irreplaceable medic and trauma care luminary when travelling doctor John Hinds died following an accident at the Skerries 100 five years ago.

The 35-year-old from Tandragee came off his BMW machine while he was providing medical cover during practice for the event in North County Dublin on Friday, July 3. He succumbed to his injuries the following day.

Known in racing circles simply as ‘Doc John’, the highly-regarded ‘Flying Doctor’ was an innovator in trauma care who brought world-class skills to the roadside.

He unquestionably saved many lives throughout the 14 years that he worked alongside Lurgan-based GP Dr Fred MacSorley on a voluntary basis within the MCUI Medical Team, at Irish road race meetings north and south.


A few days after Dr Hinds’ passing, Dr MacSorley told me that his colleague’s death was a ‘huge, huge loss’.

“John had an extraordinary level of skill and he took those very unique and highly advanced skills that he would use in critical care in hospital to the side of the road,” he said.

“He had the courage and foresight to do that and it was similar to what the HEMS (Helicopter Emergency Medical Service) specialists do in London, who have world-renowned trauma specialists. John was in touch with them and other medical experts around the world and he would bring that level of expertise over here to the roadside.

“He was world-class and a lot of people didn’t realise that. He was a very modest person and wasn’t really letting a lot of people know about it,” added Dr MacSorley.

“Every major hospital will have doctors that have expertise and there are maybe only a couple of people in the country who did what he did, but none of them were prepared to do it at the side of a ditch; so Dr John was pretty unique.

“As I mentioned the HEMS service in London are developing those trauma skills and a lot of the knowledge used has come out of the military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq, where these poor lads were being blown to smithereens by those IED (improvised explosive device) bombs.

“Some were surviving with appalling injuries and being rescued by rapid intervention teams and we have learned a lot from that war experience: about advances in stabilisation of airways and so forth, and John picked up a lot of tips from the studies that he would have avidly read,” he added.

“He always looked to find the best practice available and to bring it to our shores, so he was a very valuable guy to have on board.”

Dr Hinds, who was an intensive care consultant and anaesthetist at Craigavon Area Hospital, was held in the highest regard by the road racers he looked after, who drew reassurance from the knowledge that their lives would be in the best possible hands should the unthinkable happen.

“The riders were hugely fond of him and in John they had someone who they could relate to in a way that someone who doesn’t ride motorbikes can’t,” Dr MacSorley said.

“I’m an ordinary bike rider but John was on a much greater level and they could relate to that. Like all the members of the medical team, we have the interests of the riders at heart. You can work in the team but if you don’t have a passion for motorcycle racing, you probably wouldn’t stick at it too long.”

Dr MacSorley said his former colleague was ‘by far the most amazing’ person he had ever worked alongside and added that he will miss Dr Hinds ‘hugely’.

“He is a huge loss and I don’t think at this stage that he can be replaced. Hopefully, the teams north and south looking after the motorcycle meetings can continue to try and carry on the role he did but he is a huge, huge loss,” he said.

“I will miss working with him. I worked very closely with John for about 14 years and he showed no sign at all of getting tired or thinking that he’d had enough, or was thinking of moving on. Of all the people that I’ve worked with, John was by far the most amazing.”

Dr Hinds led the campaign for an air ambulance service in Northern Ireland, which came into being two years after his death. His unique radio call-sign, Delta 7, is used by the HEMS team in his memory, which was the wish of his partner, Dr Janet Acheson, and his family.