Spending most of his working life at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio he treated around 500 patients a year, wrote or co-authored 13 books, lectured in the United States, Australia and elsewhere, and made himself available for consultation.

Fazio was attending a conference in Paris in 1981 when doctors consulted him from Rome. They had operated on a man suffering serious gunshot wounds but were uncertain about the outcome.

Several long-distance consultations followed with Fazio and two other American surgeons and Pope John Paul II survived.

Victor Warren Fazio was born in Sydney on February 2, 1940, and spent most of his childhood in Tuncurry and Taree. He attended St Joseph's College, Sydney, and began medical studies in 1957, hoping to become a GP in Taree. Fazio graduated in 1964.

He married Carolyn Sawyer in Taree, became a father and completed post graduate work at St Vincent's Hospital, lectured in anatomy at the University of NSW and served with the Australian surgical team at Bien Hoa during the Vietnam War.

He went to the United States to hone his skills in all aspects of intestinal surgery and then at the age of 35, he was appointed chairman of the Cleveland Clinic's department of colorectal surgery, a position he held for 33 years.

In 2008 he became chairman of the clinic's digestive disease institute. Dr James Church, a colleague, said: "He is responsible for the evolution of the best colorectal unit in the world. His knowledge is astronomical, his clinical acumen sharp and well honed, his surgical skills are without peer he was bold when boldness was called for and cautious when caution was needed."

Specialising in colon and rectal surgery, his clinical interests were Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, colorectal cancer and pelvic floor reservoir procedures.

The University of Sydney made Fazio an honorary Master of Surgery and he became an officer in the Order of Australia in 2004.

Fazio's honours and awards were extensive. He is one of only three Australians to receive a Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons both by examination and by conferment of an honorary degree.

His honorary fellowships and doctorates come from England, Edinburgh, Ireland and Poland and he was inducted into the European Surgical Association in 2007.

In 2002 he was the first winner of the Al and Norma Lerner Humanitarian Award, the clinic's highest honour. It goes to a doctor who personifies "the highest values of the medical profession, a practitioner of peerless expertise, wise mentor and valued participant in the life of the institution".

Fazio was judged to be a "physician whose selfless dedication, boundless compassion and tireless work has made the most profound and singular contribution to the good of humankind."

Fazio and his wife, Carolyn have been patrons of the historical society at Tinonee and supporters of the Great Lakes Historical Society at Tuncurry.

He is survived by Carolyn, sons Victor and David in the United States, daughter Jane in Adelaide, their families, including six grandchildren, stepbrother Vince and stepsister Noeline.

To read more about Vic Fazio's amazing career, click here