Born in Sydney, Fazio spent most of his childhood in Tuncurry and Taree, and was sent to school in Sydney at St. Joseph's College, Hunters Hill, following the death of his father when Victor was eleven years of age. His father, also named Victor Warren, had won a Distinguished Service Medal while serving with the Royal Australian Navy during World War II. The elder Fazio's second marriage, to Katherine Hills, produced Victor Jnr and his brother Joe. Victor Jnr began his medical studies at the University of Sydney in 1957 and lived in a Legacy hostel for the student sons of men who had died as a result of war.
Career
Fazio graduated in 1964, by which time he had played junior rugby league in the Eastern Suburbs competition, rugby for the University of Sydney, and married Carolyn Sawyer in Taree. He completed postgraduate work at St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney, lectured in anatomy at the University of New South Wales and served with the Australian surgical team at Bien Hoa during the Vietnam War. Fazio went to the United States to hone his skills in all aspects of intestinal surgery, firstly at the Lahey Clinic Hospital in Boston, then, in 1973, to learn alongside surgeon Dr Rupert Turnbull at the Cleveland Clinic. Within a year, at the age of 35, he was Chairman of the clinic's Department of Colorectal Surgery, one of the youngest doctors to hold such a post in the United States. He held that post for 33 years. In 2008, he became Chairman of the clinic's Digestive Disease Institute. Specialising in colon and rectal surgery, Fazio's clinical interests were Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis; colorectal cancer; and pelvic floor reservoir procedures, created inside the body of patients who had intestines removed, to collect the body's waste. His innovative techniques allow patients to avoid the need for colostomies. He also made an international mark by developing techniques to conserve the small intestine in patients with extensive Crohn's disease. From Paris in 1981 where he was attending a conference, Fazio conducted a number of successful long distance consultations to doctors in Rome who were operating on Pope John Paul II's serious gunshot wounds following the assassination attempt of the Pontiff.
Accolades
The University of Sydney made Fazio an honorary Master of Surgery, and he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2004. Fazio 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 2000 Fazio was the first recipient of the Cleveland Clinic's Master Clinician Award, given to one of 1500 Cleveland Clinic physicians. In 2002 he was inducted into Cleveland's Medical Hall of Fame in 2002. 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." He earned The Cleveland Clinic Alumni Association's 2005 Distinguished Alumnus Award and was the clinic's Teacher of the Year twice. The Crohn's & Colitis Foundation made him the Premier Physician. Good Housekeeping magazine named him one of the country's top cancer doctors for women; American Health said he was one of the best doctors in America. The Goodreads website recommended his Atlas of Intestinal Stomas. In 2014 Fazio won the Lifetime Achievement honour in the US National Physician of the Year awards. At home in Australia, Fazio and his wife Carolyn were patrons of the historical society at Tinonee, New South Wales, near Taree; and supporters of the Great Lakes Historical Society at Tuncurry.
Death
After failing health he died in Ohio. He was buried at Tinonee, New South Wales. His wife was Carolyn, his two sons Victor & David and daughter Jane. His younger brother Joe Fazio who predeceased him, was a rowing silver medallist for Australia at the 1968 Mexico Olympics. Plans are proceeding to establish the Victor Fazio Centre for Inflammatory Bowel Disease at Cleveland Clinic, and surgical suites in his name for digestive disease patients.
