Chris Rogers Obituary

It is with great sadness that we have learned of the death of Chris Rogers from the Sleep Apnoea Trust Association (SATA). 

Chris has always been a huge voice for patients with sleep apnoea and fought tirelessly to improve patient care and recognition for people with OSA. Chris initially had a distinguished career in the motor trade and held senior marketing positions with Michelin and Honda before retiring. At around that point he joined the SATA committee and eventually took on the role of Managing Secretary. The rest, as they say, is history. He made the role his own, and greatly extended the reach of SATA, always presenting a professional and knowledgeable face of the organisation.

With his leadership and activism, SATA has become a key resource for both patients with sleep apnoea and the healthcare teams who look after them. Many of us have given patients the excellent SATA information leaflets than to patient over the years. He was an excellent example of Patient/Public Interaction because he was smart, vocal, assertive, and sensitive to the needs of patients with OSA, not surprisingly because he wore CPAP every night for decades. His passion and energy for SATA reflected his understanding of what it’s like to be a patient. He fortunately has built a good team around him in SATA so the work he started is likely to continue.

Many people from across the wider respiratory and sleep environment have already commented over the past few weeks how much they appreciated working with him. He worked tirelessly and passionately on behalf of patients with sleep apnoea to effect change through not only through SATA but also through his links with other patient charities, notably Hope2Sleep, but also alongside the British Sleep Society, ARTP, the Sleep Apnoea Consortium, the OSA Alliance and with NICE and the DVLA to improve national guidance for patients with OSA. He contributed hugely to the national guidance on outpatient sleep services recently published through the BSS, ARTP and the British Thoracic Society.

He was an incredible patient advocate for those with sleep apnoea, a great support and inspiration to those of us working in the field and his influence was incredibly far-reaching. He will be dearly missed. He leaves behind his wife Lorely, children Leonie, Oliver and Alexander, and grand-children Abbie and Steph. May he rest in peace.