Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, I grew up in a country deeply divided under apartheid. As a child, I was largely unaware of the full extent of the injustice surrounding me. It was only later, with perspective and experience, that I fully grasped the deep and lasting impact of that era.

My mother, born in England, was a general practitioner, and my father, born in South Africa, was an academic general surgeon. Both dedicated their lives to medicine, treating all patients equally with zero tolerance for hypocrisy or bigotry. Medicine was a formative and fundamental part of my childhood. I regularly accompanied my mother on home visits and my father on ward rounds at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, the primary government hospital serving Soweto, a vast area designated for Black South Africans under apartheid. My exposure to medicine started early—at just three years old, I watched from the stairs leading to my mother’s consulting rooms as a baby was born. At around ten I remember squeezing the upper arm of a man whose brachial artery had been severed by a knife so my father could stitch the wound.

Growing up, I was immersed in both English and Afrikaans—my mother spoke English to me, and my father, Afrikaans—making me fully bilingual. Rugby was another constant in my life. In South Africa, it was more than just a sport; it was deeply woven into the fabric of society, reflecting both division and unity. Playing rugby instilled in me discipline, teamwork, and resilience—qualities that would later shape my approach to leadership and problem-solving in medicine.

After six years of medical school at the University of the Witwatersrand, I completed my internship in Medicine and Surgery at Johannesburg General Hospital. But as I worked within the system, a question began to echo through my career: Surely, there’s a way to do this better? My first attempt at driving change came at 23 when I took the government to court, pushing for the regulation of work hours for medical professionals. The case resulted in higher wages and the first steps toward fairer regulations.