TRIBUTES have been paid to a Yorkshire cardiologist and his GP wife who died in an horrific motorcycle crash while on a family holiday in America.
Walter Rhoden and Kathryn Phipps were riding a Harley Davidson in Orlando, Florida, when it was hit by a car. They were both thrown from the motorcycle and are thought to have died at the scene.
The couple leave three children aged under 17 who ar
e believed to have been at the family's hotel in Orlando when their parents were killed in the smash on Sunday afternoon.
Dr Rhoden, 47, was a consultant at Barnsley Hospital, while his 45-year-old wife was a popular GP based at Woodgrove Surgery in Wath upon Dearne between Barnsley and Rotherham.
A spokesman for Barnsley General Hospital said: "The death of Walter Rhoden and his wife has come as a huge shock to everyone.
"He was a very senior colleague who was very well-known and liked, he was an absolutely fabulous man. Many of his colleagues are utterly speechless at the news."
Ms Phipps's father Mike Phipps said: "We've all been devastated by the news of this tragic accident. Information from Florida is very sketchy at the moment but what we understand is that a vehicle turned into the path of the motorcycle that Kathryn and Walter were riding."
Last night, the Florida Highway Patrol, which is investigating the accident, confirmed Dr Rhoden had been riding the bike and swerved to avoid the oncoming car.
Dr Rhoden had pioneered use of an American treatment called Enhanced External Counter Pulsation Therapy (EECP) or "squeezy pants".
The technology involved issuing a pair of compressive trousers similar to blood pressure cuffs to patients suffering from circulation problems, to encourage blood flow to damaged arteries.
The full article contains 305 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
