- In 1946 he had a successful season in the Swiss Alps but the following year fell some 200m while descending the Col de Coste-Rouge in the Ecrin mountains of South East France. Stone fall was the cause of the accident. Ward and the Scottish climber Bill Murray both suffered fractured skulls. Mr. Ward lost all memory until he awoke in the hospital but their companion John Barford was killed.
- Fathered a son named Mark with his wife, Felicity.
- During the Mt. Everest climb Dr. Ward had reached a high point of about 7,600m on the Lhotse Face, before his legs buckled "in the peculiarly jelly-like fashion of a drunkard's walk". He did return to almost the same height in much better shape.
- A surgeon and mountaineer, Michael Ward earned fame as the expedition physician in an historic 1953 expedition that successfully ascended Mount Everest. His work in researching potential routes was instrumental in the expedition's success. In addition, he was a renowned authority on high altitude medicine.
- After Everest, Dr. Ward focused on qualifying as a surgeon rather than joining his companions on the lecture circuit. He was not interested in the adulatory cheers of audiences.
- Served in the Royal Army Medical Corps.
- Physician for the 1963 expedition on Mount Everest led by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.
- His father, Wilfrid Ward, worked as a civil servant in Malaya. He was captured by the Japanese after the fall of Singapore during World War II and was interned for six years. Michael Ward's mother managed to escape in one of the last vessels to leave the city and was able to return safely to England.
- Was made a Commander of the British Empire in 1983. He was also awarded the Founder's Medal of the Royal Geographical Society for medical research, exploration, and mountaineering in the Himalayas.
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