Car designer Gordon Murray donates multimillion-pound surgical robot after cancer treatment
The car designer and his partner Stella funded the robot after robotic-assisted surgery for oesophageal cancer
Last updated 13th Oct 2026
A multimillion-pound robotic surgical system has been donated to Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust by a car designer who was treated there for oesophageal cancer.
Prof Gordon Murray CBE, whose designs helped shape some of Formula One's best-known cars, and Stella Murray funded the purchase of a da Vinci 5 surgical system through a donation to Royal Surrey Charity.
The Trust said the donation strengthens its robotic-assisted surgery programme.
Cancer diagnosis and surgery
Prof Murray underwent robotic-assisted surgery using a da Vinci Xi system in 2024, after being diagnosed with adenocarcinoma, a form of oesophageal cancer.
His cancer was detected during a routine endoscopy to monitor a long-standing history of acid reflux.
The diagnosis came almost a decade after his brother, Terry, died from the disease.
The operation was carried out by Professor Shaun Preston, a general surgeon at Royal Surrey.
The Trust said Prof Murray's recovery was so successful that, within months of surgery, he had returned to working 10-hour days designing high-performance cars.
Gordon and Stella Murray then decided they wanted to help more patients benefit from the technology in future.
What the donation means
The Trust said Royal Surrey is recognised as one of the country's leading centres for robotic-assisted surgery.
It said more than 30 of its surgeons perform robotic-assisted procedures, and it is among a select number of UK centres to have carried out more than 10,000 robotic-assisted operations.
The Trust said robotic-assisted surgical systems do not replace surgeons.
Instead, it said, they help surgeons carry out complex procedures through tiny incisions with greater precision, control and dexterity.
Surgeons operate the system from a console.
The Trust said this minimally invasive approach can lead to faster recovery, shorter hospital stays, improved outcomes and fewer complications for patients.
Louise Stead, group chief executive of Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust, said: "We are incredibly grateful to Gordon and Stella Murray for this extraordinary gift to Royal Surrey Charity."
She said: "As someone who has spent his career pushing the boundaries of engineering and innovation, Gordon recognised the transformative impact this cutting-edge technology had on his own care."
She said: "Their generous donation will help more patients access this advanced treatment, helping them recover more quickly and return to the people and activities that matter most."
She said: "There is no doubt that the impact of this gift will be felt by thousands of patients and their families for many years to come."
Prof Murray said: "I was so impressed with Prof Shaun Preston and the team, the technology and my post-operative recovery, that donating a da Vinci 5 robot seemed to be the best way to say thank you."
Naming the robots
Yesterday, Gordon and Stella Murray visited the Trust to see the surgical robot their donation helped make possible.
They also toured the Trust's soon-to-open Cancer and Surgical Innovation Centre.
In recognition of their donation, Royal Surrey invited Gordon to help name its fleet of robotic-assisted surgical systems.
The da Vinci 5 funded through the donation has been named George, after Gordon's friend, the Beatles guitarist George Harrison, who died from cancer.
Gordon also named three of the Trust's other robots after Harrison's fellow Beatles, John, Paul and Ringo.
The fifth surgical robot has been named Bob.