by Friendship News Desk,
4 June, 2026
With profound sadness, Friendship mourns the passing of Dr Jacques Kayser (3 June 1960 – 30 May 2026), a distinguished surgeon, humanitarian, and cherished friend of our organisation.
For many years, Dr Kayser generously volunteered his time, expertise, and compassion aboard Friendship’s floating hospitals, bringing life-changing and often lifesaving surgical care to some of the most remote and underserved communities of Bangladesh. In the shifting river islands of the chars, where access to healthcare remains a daily challenge, he stood beside our medical teams with unwavering dedication, treating patients not only with exceptional skill but with deep humanity.
Co-workers at Friendship remember him as a kind, gentle, and supportive colleague. He had worked as a surgeon at the Robert Schuman Hospitals in Luxembourg since 1998. Over the course of his career, Dr Kayser also served as a senior physician at the Lukaskrankenhaus in Neuss, Germany and as a senior registrar at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Adelaide, Australia. Since 2009, he had also been president of the Luxembourg Visceral Surgeons.
Dr Kayser believed that quality healthcare should know no borders. Through his service, countless men, women, and children received care that would otherwise have been out of reach. His contribution became part of a larger journey to bring dignity, hope, and healing to those living on the frontlines of climate change.
Though he has left this world, his legacy lives on in every life restored, every family reunited with hope, and every act of compassion inspired by his example.
Friendship extends its heartfelt condolences to his family, friends, colleagues, and all who had the privilege of knowing him.
May he rest in peace.
