Farewell To Chris The Vet

Last Friday was the funeral of Chris the vet. I only met him a few times but I felt I knew him well because I have listened to so many stories about his exploits. Resourceful and compassionate he was at one time the only vet in the largest ( in geographical terms) practice in the UK.
He was in many ways the vet I wish I had been ; spending his days serving the community driving miles and miles on tortuous roads,visiting crofters and treating their animals. It sounds idyllic but it must have been a tough life and not any easy way to make a living . Imagine having to get up in the middle of the night drive for several hours to calve a cow, drive back  do a full days work  then probably have to go out the following night. Nowadays we have a one in four rota and regular days off. I don't think I could endure the punishing workload that Chris seemed to thrive on.

It was clear at the well attended funeral just how popular he was in Lochaber . To me he will always be a legend ; colourful character from the days before political correctness, endless paperwork and regulations started to suck the pleasure out of being a vet. May he rest in peace.