Olivia Newton-John Reveals Her Brother Hugh Has Died After Many Years of Decline

We’re here for you, Olivia Newton-John! On Thursday, May 23, the Grease actress sadly revealed her one and only brother, Hugh Newton-John, passed away earlier this month in Melbourne “after many years of decline.”

“I love him so and will miss him terribly,” Olivia, 70, wrote via Instagram. “Recent years have not been kind to Hugh, but although he is now at peace, his memory and legacy will live on among those who worked and trained with him.”

My dear, sweet, gentle, clever, brother Hugh passed away May 7, 2019, in Melbourne, Australia after many years of decline. I love him so and will miss him terribly. Love & light, Olivia Vale – Dr. Hugh Newton-John Sadly, Hugh Newton-John died recently after a long battle with debility and decline. Hugh was a well-respected infectious diseases clinician at Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital in Melbourne during the 1970s and 80s where his lively personality, sharp intellect and amazing ability to reassess complex infectious diseases was highly regarded. Hugh was an innovator, an astute clinician and a wonderful teacher and mentor to generations of medical students, residents and ID trainees. Hugh was also a talented musician and artist who shared his gifts with many friends, colleagues and associates throughout his entire life. As a clinician-investigator Hugh led many key research projects, particularly among patients requiring care in the hospital's intensive care unit. These included the optimal means of managing tetanus, helping identify the link between recent Campylobacter gastroenteritis and the subsequent development of Guillain-Barre syndrome and improving the ventilation methods for polio patients who required long-term ventilation, as well as developing new approaches to preventing airway obstruction among patients with chronic upper airway weakness. He was a keen photographer and enjoyed recording patient stories about their illnesses and how they managed. Many of the classic clinical infectious diseases photos and audio recordings that now form part of the massive Fairfield Collection, owe their origins and meticulous cataloguing to Hugh's efforts – many have now been included in the key Australian ID textbook "Infectious Diseases: a clinical approach; third edition" (Eds: Yung, Spelman, Street, et al.). Recent years have not been kind to Hugh, but although he is now at peace, his memory and legacy will live on among those who worked and trained with him and the many patients who benefited from his fabulous care. Submitted by Lindsay Grayson, Anne Mijch, Jenny Hoy and Suzanne Crowe

A post shared by Olivia Newton-john (@therealonj) on May 23, 2019 at 10:32am PDT

Olivia explained that her brother was a well-respected member of the medical community because he worked as an infectious diseases clinician at Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital in the 1970s and 1980s. “Hugh was an innovator, an astute clinician and a wonderful teacher and mentor to generations of medical students, residents and ID trainees,” she noted. “As a clinician-investigator Hugh led many key research projects, particularly among patients requiring care in the hospital’s intensive care unit.”

Not only was Hugh a great clinician, but he also had an eye for photography and he used that in his work. “[Hugh] enjoyed recording patient stories about their illnesses and how they managed,” Olivia said. “Many of the classic clinical infectious diseases photos and audio recordings that now form part of the massive Fairfield Collection, owe their origins and meticulous cataloguing to Hugh’s efforts.”

Alongside Olivia’s heartfelt captioned was a collage of photos of her late brother. It seemed like she chose every snap carefully because they all told a story of what his life was like from the moment he was born. There was one photo of him as a boy, another as a baby, and many more of him as a grown adult.

Soon after Olivia’s post went live, her friend Donny Osmond took to the comments section to console her. “So sorry to hear about your loss,” he said. “Sending love and prayers your way.”

Even though we didn’t know Hugh, he seemed like a really great guy!

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