A WORLD-renowned Glasgow plastic surgeon has retired after 30-years spent transforming the lives of thousands of people.

I'll miss him as a good friend...not just as my doctor EASTERHOUSE man Peter McMahon is just one of the hundreds of people whose lives have been transformed by David Soutar. Peter was born with cerebral palsy and a disfiguring birth condition. But his luck changed when he was introduced to some of the world's best plastic surgeons at Canniesburn Hospital when he was 13. And almost 30 years later he paid tribute to his consultant David Soutar on his retirement. Peter, 43, said: "Mr Soutar has been absolutely fantastic for all of the time that I've known him. "Sometimes I would go into hospital for an overnight before an operation and when I got up the next day I just couldn't go through with the surgery. "I'd be too nervous and maybe worried about the pain. But every time that happened, he never got angry or upset with me. "Instead of saying You're wasting my time,' he understood and he'd just say, It's okay, we'll reschedule when you're ready'." Peter, who has hypertelorism, which causes the centre of the skull behind the face to grow too much, pushing the eyes and nose far apart, was also treated by Dr Ian Jackson. Dr Jackson carried out the first of 10 operations spanning 28 years to rebuild Peter's face, offering him the chance of a normal life free from the teasing he suffered. Peter said: "In the end, I just wanted to look the same as anybody else but we didn't think any kind of treatment was possible. "Nobody else would take the chance to operate on me, or give me the chance that Mr Jackson did. "When he had to go to America he left me in the hands of another great surgeon." Peter had his latest op earlier this month and he was back at the Canniesburn unit to make sure a new tear duct created by Mr Soutar was working. Yesterday's checkup gave him a chance to say goodbye to the surgeon. Peter, who lives in Easterhouse with his dad James, admitted: "It's not like he's just a doctor. I'll miss him as a friend."

And leading the tributes today to David Soutar - consultant at the Canniesburn Plastic Surgery Unit - was Scots surgeon Doctor Ian Jackson - the man made famous by the documentaries charting the transformation of Boy David.

Dr Jackson, 73, who was Mr Soutar's predecessor at the Canniesburn, was behind the surgery which rebuilt a new face for David Lopez from Peru in the 1970s. Dr Jackson later adopted the boy, now in his 30s, and moved to America.

Mr Soutar carried on the work of Dr Jackson after he left Canniesburn to ensure the centre retained its reputation as one of the world's best plastic surgery units.

Dr Jackson today called for Mr Soutar, a head and neck surgeon who specialised in people with cancer, to be given an award for his work.

Speaking from his home in Minnesota, Dr Jackson said: "There is no doubt that David Soutar would be very deserving of a recognition for his tireless pursuit of excellence and his determination to keep Glasgow as one of the great centres of plastic surgery."

Mr Soutar, 60, saw patients for the last time this week at the Canniesburn unit, which is now housed in Glasgow's Royal Infirmary after moving from Bearsden's Switchback Road in 2001.

He said: "I have mixed emotions. I think I'll miss the camaraderie with my colleagues. Some of the nurses here have known me all that time."

He decided he wanted to go into plastic surgery when he went to work with a surgeon in Canada during his time at medical school in Aberdeen.

Mr Souter then became a registrar at the Plastic Surgery Unit when it was in Canniesburn in Bearsden.

A few years later, after Dr Jackson's departure, he became a consultant there.

Over his 30 years, Mr Soutar's main speciality has been working to rebuild the faces of people who have been left deformed by having tumours removed in their head and neck, such as after cancer.

He's also worked on people who were born with deformities, as well as being an expert in cosmetic surgery.

He's also done research into skin cancer, lectures at Glasgow University and is a consultant in Plastic Surgery for the Royal Airforce.

But Mr Souter's now looking forward to a rest from the high pressured job which has seen him become a worldwide leader in the field.

He regularly visits the USA and Australia to talk about his work, which he says is hugely rewarding.

He said: "I think plastic surgery on the whole is very satisfactory because you are trying to minimise deformity.

"You can never make major deformities normal but you can certainly improve them.

"The challenge is always to put people back together again."

Not surprisingly he says the most challenging part of his job has always been giving bad news to his patients.

He said: "When people think they've got a mouth ulcer which is actually mouth cancer, or when people have a minor mark that's actually skin cancer and you have to break bad news."

However hard he's worked Mr Souter has no plans to indulge in an overly relaxing retirement though.

He's set to become the president of the European Association of Reconstructive and Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons in May during the groups conference in Maderia.

The Bearsden man also has holidays planned to Germany and Budapest with his wife Myra, 64, The couple have three children Martin, 33, Paul, 32, Claire, 30.

He'll also continue to do some private work at the Nuffield Hospital in the West End.

David deserves an award for his work

"Canniesburn was a wonderful place. It was the brainchild of Jack Tough, and it catapulted Glasgow into the international arena where it became the leading centre in plastic surgery.

"It housed the giants' of plastic surgery - Jack Tough, Tom Gibson, Ian McGregor, Jack Mustarde, and a young whippersnapper, Ian Jackson, who eventually, because of many reasons, decided to take the job as Chief of Plastic Surgery at the Mayo Clinic.

"This was a very difficult decision for me to make but I felt it was necessary for the furtherance of my career.

"Behind me was a most talented young man - talented in plastic surgery, very bright academically, a good organiser, and someone who possessed a very pleasant disposition.

"Eventually, Canniesburn had to close and this was then transferred to the Royal Infirmary.

"By this time, David Soutar had become a Consultant and had gained an international reputation, particularly in head and neck cancer surgery.

"David's approach to organisation of the plastic surgery centre was to collect around him a group of bright individuals and to treat them well, giving them a feeling of considerable status, not just locally and nationally but also internationally.

"As a result of this, the move from old Canniesburn to the new centre in the Royal Infirmary did not result in any deterioration of the centre, but in fact increased it in the eyes of the plastic surgery world.

"This is almost entirely due to David Soutar. His contributions have been significant.

"There is no doubt that David would be very deserving of a recognition for his tireless pursuit of excellence and his determination to keep Glasgow as one of the great centres of plastic surgery.

"For this I believe that he should receive the appropriate award, and I am certainly not the one to be able to judge what that award should be, but I think that it should be a significant one."