Lawyer and charity founder

Born: December 19, 1926 ;

Died: April 11, 2016

WHEN Iain Fraser, who has died aged 89, vowed to repay the ophthalmic surgeon who saved his sight he initially expressed his gratitude with a side of beef and a crate of champagne, delivered by limousine.

The Glasgow-born lawyer, who was then in his 50s, had been left blinded in his only good eye during an assault and the specialist, John Forrester, who had been called out that night to treat him had believed the prognosis was hopeless.

But the surgeon’s skill resulted in Mr Fraser’s sight slowly returning to a level that allowed him to live a full life, albeit with restrictions, and his appreciation was unbounded. Ultimately he recognised that, rather than material gifts, what was really required was support for an eye research laboratory the professor was trying to establish at Aberdeen University and within a few years Fraser had founded a charity to champion Prof Forrester’s work.

Since then the initiative, Saving Sight In Grampian (SSIG), has raised more than £3.5million and supports scientists involved in world-leading research into eye disease, benefiting patients locally and around the globe. Mr Fraser has also been recognised for his charity work with honorary degrees of Master of the University and Doctor of Laws from Aberdeen University and two centres in the Granite City named in his honour.

Iain Fraser was born in Glasgow’s Maryhill, the son of tramway clerk Donald Fraser and his wife Christine and was raised an only child, after his little brother died in infancy. Educated at Maryhill Primary and then Glasgow High School, he was evacuated to live with his maternal grandparents near Inverness during the Second World War, when German bombers blitzed Glasgow and the Clyde in 1941.

The war was still at its height when he left school and he went to Glasgow University to read law. He was not called up during his studies to serve his country as even as a young man he had not enjoyed good eyesight. His vision had deteriorated when he suffered a detached retina during his student rugby-playing days and later he would be left with useful vision in only one eye, as a result of a cataract.

After university he was taken on as an apprentice by Glasgow solicitors Holmes Mackillop, becoming an assistant there before joining another local firm Tindall, Oatts and Rodger in 1952.

A couple of years later he moved to Aberdeen as a legal assistant with Paull and Williamson solicitors where he eventually became a senior partner. Thanks to his specialism in residential property, he was known as “Houses of Fraser” though he also undertook some work in the commercial property sector, mainly involving hotels and liquor licences.

The assault that permanently damaged his eyesight took place at a licensed trade dance in Aberdeen in November 1985. Professor Forrester, now an Emeritus Professor, had not long been appointed to the Cockburn Chair of Opthalmology at Aberdeen University and was on call for emergencies that night.

The surgery was particularly complex and over the next few days Mr Fraser developed a severe infection in the eye, a complication that normally results in certain and total blindness. For several weeks he had no useful sight. However three months after the incident he suddenly began to be able to identify colours. The first time he realised he could see something again was when he correctly told his wife she was wearing blue.

Slowly his eye improved, returning to a healthy condition which enabled him to get around, read small print, watch television, follow Aberdeen Football Club and even enjoy playing golf. He also completed his Masters with a thesis on liquor licensing.

He remained as a partner in Paull and Williamson until 1987 and then worked with them as a consultant for a further ten years.

He began fundraising shortly after retiring as partner and, in the late 1980s, along with a committee of friends and sponsorship from A C Yule & Son and the John Clark Motor Group, he founded Saving Sight In Grampian.

He linked the charity to Aberdeen University’s Development Trust, which had been set up to inaugurate the Sir Andrew and Lady Lewis Department of Opthalmology, and initially thought they might raise about £10,000.

However a big fundraising drive in 1994 brought in £100,000 and allowed the eye research laboratory to expand, with the new facilities receiving Royal approval when they were opened by Princess Alexandra in 1997.

As the work of the lab increased so too did the staff, now numbering 30, and more space was needed. In 2002 the SSIG lab moved to the University of Aberdeen’s new Institute of Medical Sciences (IMS) and later enjoyed further Royal visits from Anne, the Princess Royal, and the Countess of Wessex.

Mr Fraser took great pride in the innovative research being carried out by Prof Forrester and his team of researchers and in being able to fund a wealth of projects, many of which not only benefited local people but also patients worldwide, in the diagnoses and treatment of eye disease.

They included the first reporting of the success of a new drug for the treatment of uveitis, a sight-threatening inflammation of the eye. The laboratory has also made a range of fundamental discoveries in corneal transplantation, herpes infection of the eye, age-related macular degeneration, diabetes and regeneration of the lens.

And, because the SSIG had been integrated with the IMS, the lawyer’s fundraising activities extended beyond support for eye research to other medical research, resulting in the setting up of the Institute’s Flow Cytometry Centre. Named in his honour in 2014, the centre supports researchers working in areas including both cell and cancer biology and immunology.

It had all been a classic lesson on turning a negative into a positive – a potentially disastrous personal experience that he channeled into a force for good, helping countless people around the world afflicted by blinding diseases.

In addition to Saving Sight, he also helped to improve support services for the visually impaired as chairman of the Grampian Society for the Blind, now known as North East Sensory Services, which is based at the Iain Fraser Resource Centre.

He was also an accomplished fiddler, an active member and president of Aberdeen Strathspey and Reel Society whose performances raised much for Saving Sight, and continued to support Glasgow High School’s music department.

Previously married and divorced, he is survived by his second wife Allie, whom he married in 1973, his four step-children Neil, John, Susie and Ross, and three grandchildren.

ALISON SHAW