Margaret L. Hesla MD, LRCSI, LRCPI

Dr Margaret Leonie Hesla nee Brown was born at Cayman Brac, Cayman Islands, on May 13, 1944, the first of the four children from the marriage of Charles Irvin and Mavis Miranda Brown nee Tibbetts.

“Molly” as she was known to her family and friends, grew up on Cayman Brac and attended Creek Primary School. At the age of twelve, her family moved to Kingston, Jamaica where she received her secondary education at St. Andrew High School for Girls.

Thereafter, she returned to Cayman Brac for a while but her life-long dream of becoming a doctor had always been well-known to those closest to her. A Government doctor from Ireland named Dr Robinson who served on the Brac in the 60’s, became aware of her desire, and left no stone unturned until she was accepted at Royal College of Surgeons, Dublin, Ireland.

He also saw to it that she was granted a British Grant-in-Aid scholarship in order to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity to realize her life-goal. She applied herself diligently and graduated with a degree in medicine in June 1971, forever distinguishing herself as the first female Caymanian to reach this milestone.

It was there at RCSI, that she met the love of her life, a tall Norwegian named Per Egil Hesla, known as “Pete,” who was also pursuing a degree in the field of medicine. After marriage, they moved to Norway which became her adopted home for the remainder of her life. She went on to gain special competence in Psychodynamics and Psychoanalysis and did not stop even there, but joined the staff of the Paediatric Department at the University Hospital in Akershus, Norway in 1977, becoming qualified as a Specialist in Paediatrics four years later.

During her tenure at the hospital, she started a clinic for overweight children, working together with a multi-professional team, to introduce the young patients to greater awareness of a healthy lifestyle and eating habits.

After many years in that Paediatric department, she began private practice as a Consultant Paediatrician at University of Oslo, Akershus Hospital. She was a World Health Organization (WHO) delegate to Global Health Council. As a strong supporter and advocate for “The Rights of the Child,” she devoted most of her time towards the promotion of “Equity in Global Child Healthcare.”

In more recent years, she attended the World Health Assembly in Geneva as a delegate of “The Global Health Council” of which she was a professional member, affording her a unique opportunity to work with the international health community towards this goal. Once it was medically confirmed that she had developed narcolepsy, she no longer continued in clinical practice but focused her professional expertise on research and documentation. She worked out a project plan for WHO called “Global Child Healthcare Network,” a network to enable the promotion of child healthcare in developing countries. This is the project on which she was working up until the night of her sudden demise. However, her project plan was recently accepted and will be used in the future work for promoting healthcare for Third World children.

Undoubtedly, she was well-respected in her field as a Consultant – Volvat Medical Centre, Consultant – Lørenskog Health Authority, and Project Consultant – Department of Health, as well as providing Foreign Medical Assistance, Kingdom of Norway. She was also an enthusiastic member of Lions Club - Lørenskog.

Together, Pete and Molly produced a family in which there are a total of nine (9) medical doctors! Their sons - Asle and Eirik, and daughters - Marget and Sebjorg, are all medical doctors and some even with specialties, and three of them are married to medical doctors! True to her role as a grandmother, she was immensely proud of her grand-children, took great delight in spending time with them, and was looking forward to the birth of her seventh grandchild in October.

Although Molly’s father, Irvin, preceded her in death years ago, her 90-year-old mother, Mavis, lives in Kingston with Molly’s younger sister, Orlane Smith nee Brown. Molly’s only brother, Durbin “Charlie” Brown, lives with his family in Grand Cayman, and Alice Brown, the youngest of the siblings, made her home in Norway also. An older half-sister, Jeanie McLean lives on Cayman Brac.

Following a massive stroke at their home in Norway, Dr. Margaret Hesla nee Brown passed away peacefully in hospital on Tuesday, April 15. A Funeral Service, followed by interment, was held in Norway on Tuesday, April 22, and a Memorial Service will be held at Ebenezer (Creek) Baptist Church, Cayman Brac, at 3:30 pm on Saturday, 24 May, 2008.

Just last year she was requested to document her bio for Cayman Brac Museum’s exhibit, “Land of my Birth – Our Medical History.” Referring to her own children, she concluded with these words: “We hope they will continue to do their duty in honouring this profession by serving their fellow human beings who are in need of medical care. This too is my wish for all the young and newly qualified doctors of the Cayman Islands. The world needs you, each and every one!”

Although various circumstances, family and professional commitments never allowed her to practice medicine in the Cayman Islands, she has now passed the baton, set a high standard and left a rich legacy for Caymanian doctors. Indeed it is possible that, one of these days, her off-spring may grace the halls of Caymanian hospitals.

Compiled by Virginia Castillo (cousin)