Omer Beleil was born on April 8th 1938 in Tangesi, Sudan to Mohammed Beleil and Dar Al-Jalal, the fifth of eleven children. A hardworking and talented student, he graduated from the University of Khartoum Medical School in 1963 and received the Kitchener Award for highest achievement. He then joined the university’s faculty as a surgeon. He married Najat Elkarib in 1964. He passed the primary fellowship exam of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (FRCS) with distinction, earning the Hallet Prize in 1966.
Intending to specialise in Neurosurgery, he moved to the UK with his wife Nagat and daughter Sara (b. 1966) in 1968, where he was awarded the FRCS. That same year, Omer was diagnosed with irreversible renal failure and given six months to live. He received a kidney transplant from his younger brother Sidieg in 1969, beating the odds. This event inspired the publication of his memoir, Two Lives.
Omer went on to find success in his career, deciding to specialise in Urology and Transplant surgery instead of Neurosurgery. The Beleil family moved to Los Angeles in 1970, where Omer completed a year-long residency at Harbor General Hospital. He received a doctorate degree and finished a post-doctoral fellowship at UCLA Medical Center. Their second daughter Selma was born in 1971.
The family returned to Sudan in 1973, where Omer took on the position of Reader in Surgery at the University of Khartoum and became a Professor in 1976. Between the years of 1975 and 1978, Omer was dedicated to establishing Soba University Teaching Hospital, the first of its kind in Sudan. During this time Omer and Najat had two more children, a daughter Tanweer (b.1975) and a son Mohammed (b.1978). He took on the position of the Dean of Postgraduate Medical Education with the University of Khartoum from 1978-1980, followed by the post of Director-General of the Arab Medical Specialisation Board from 1980-1981. Omer returned to the University of Khartoum in 1981 as the Vice-Chancellor, a role he held for one four-year term. Omer Beleil’s passion was teaching and mentoring future doctors, and in 1986, he returned as a lecturer and surgeon at the University of Khartoum, becoming the Head of the Department of Surgery in 1990.
Omer died suddenly in 1991 at the age of 53. He is survived by his wife Nagat, four children and sixteen grandchildren. Sara is a Consultant Psychiatrist in the UK, Selma is a Lawyer in the UAE, Tanweer is a post-doctoral Research Associate at Imperial College London and Mohammed is a Consultant Anaesthesiologist and Intensivist at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi.