Brian Worthington was born into modest circumstances in Oldham and attended the local primary school, from which he moved to Hulme Grammar School, where he studied until he was 18 years of age. He was academically talented and attained the standard to enter university and indeed medical school with a scholarship to Guy’s Hospital in London. He graduated in physiology and medicine and was drawn towards radiology and in particular neuroradiology. He became a consultant for the Nottingham and Derby hospitals, but followed that with a university career as a Professor of Diagnostic Radiology at the University of Nottingham. He was a pioneer in clinical magnetic resonance imaging, for which he was honoured in many ways. Moreover, Brian Worthington was fascinated in all things Icelandic and became a fluent speaker in that language. With his wife Margaret and two sons, Andrew and Stuart, he maintained a close family relationship with his parents.