Dr Richard Board remembered after tragic death

A Sunshine Coast doctor and father loved for his kind and empathetic nature is being remembered after he was tragically killed in the “prime of his life”.

A much-loved Buderim doctor who died while swimming at a Sunshine Coast Beach has been remembered as a kind “gift” to his family and patients.

Dr Richard Ellis Board’s lifeless body was pulled from the water after a swim at a patrolled Mooloolaba beach took a tragic turn on December 16.

It is understood he caught a wave and hit a submerged object.

Surf Life Saving Queensland confirmed lifesavers performed CPR before four Queensland Ambulance crews including a critical care paramedic arrived on the scene.

But the father-of-two had suffered a spinal injury and died in hospital just five days later.

He was 50.

His mother Margaret Board who lives in Brisbane said her son had been in the “prime of his life”.

“He had a way with people, particularly younger people because he was a bit of a kid at heart, but he was mostly kind, caring and very interested in everything,” she said.

“He loved having fun, had a very dry sense of humour, was often very subtle and very laid-back, but there was a twinkle in his eye.

“No parents could ask for any more from a child.” 

Dr Richard Board tragically died in hospital on December 21 after suffering a spinal injury between the Mooloolaba beach flags on December 16. Picture: Supplied

Dr Board, who was the co-owner at Ballinger Family Medical Practice, leaves behind two sons, Alexander and Harrison, aged 15 and 12.

Ms Board said her son was a “hands-on, hardworking” dad.

“He was very proud of his boys and loved them very much,” Ms Board said.

“He was just interested in everything they wanted to do.

“He was a great elder brother and hero to James and very caring to all of his family, especially his grandmother.

“We loved him very much.”

Ms Board said her son enjoyed several lifelong passions, including classical music, playing piano, cooking and writing.

During high school Dr Board placed in several The Courier-Mail essay competitions, had his novel, Netherworld Season, published in 1994 and was writing a teleplay inspired by Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones.

“There is a big void that can never be filled, but … I know we were lucky to have him because he was honestly an absolute gift to have,” Ms Board said.

Dr Richard Board tragically died in hospital on December 21 after suffering a spinal injury between the Mooloolaba beach flags on December 16. Picture: Supplied

Dr Board worked for Queensland Health, provided in-home care for aged care residents and worked extra hours at several Sunshine Coast medical centres during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In high school, he was interested in journalism and law, but discovered his passion for medicine during work experience at a Brisbane hospital.

He later graduated from the University of Queensland with a Bachelor in Medicine and Surgery in 1995 and worked at Redcliffe Hospital before moving to Gladstone and Nambour.

Dr Board moved to the Sunshine Coast and began working at the Ballinger Family Medical Practice in the early 2000s where he worked alongside his business partner Dr Barry Parsons.

“Medicine married two passions for Richard. He was just interested in anything and everything and had a love for people,” Ms Board said.

She said Dr Board suffered from chronic lower back pain for most of his life, an experience she believed made him an even better doctor.

“He understood when patients had problems and he could empathise with them as a person and he could treat them scientifically as a doctor,” she said.

“He was just a kind person.”

Dr Board was a part of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and also had a diploma with the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

Dr Parsons said Dr Board’s patients and colleagues were devastated by his loss.

“It’s been an incredibly difficult time over Christmas and New Year’s and to not have him here is just a tragedy,” he said.

In a statement written on behalf of the Buderim Gardens Retirement Village, patients said they had lost a “valued friend” and a brilliant doctor.

“It takes special skills, like those he had, to deal with us geriatrics as we have our foibles,” the statement said.

“We wish to thank him for always being so caring, understanding, informed and empathetic to his many patients here.

“He was well liked for his professional but friendly, genuinely interested manner, his quiet confidence and good sense of humour.”

As a child Dr Richard Board immersed himself in several passions, including reading, writing, debating, public speaking, music and acting. Picture: Supplied

Dr Board was farewelled by family, friends and patients at Enoggera’s St John Baptist Catholic Church on January 6.

His family expressed their sincere thanks to lifesavers and paramedics as well as the doctors and nurses at the Sunshine Coast University Hospital.

A Queensland Ambulance spokesman confirmed paramedics attended the scene.