Funny anecdotes

Frank Ryding is an extraordinary man. “He spends the daytime in the operating theatre trying to keep people asleep and the evenings in the theatre trying to keep them awake."

Frank has worked for the International Red Cross since 1980 co-ordinating war surgery hospitals in the world’s conflict and disaster zones. When not abroad he works as an anaesthetist in Hereford and also runs drama workshops and writes plays.

Most recently he led a Red Cross support team to Thailand after the tsunami and returned with bereaved families for the Anniversary Memorial Services. In 2005 he was a member of the ICRC Pakistan Earthquake Surgical Team which set up a mobile hospital at the site to treat the victims.

Frank’s advice for speaking in public

• The best funny anecdotes are the ones you tell against yourself – they seldom fail and the audience is on your side from then on.

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