A former bakery engineer has funded a cancer research facility after leaving a legacy gift to the Birmingham Royal Orthopaedic Hospital.

Michael Dubrowsky (pictured above), who worked at Fine Lady Bakeries in Banbury, passed away in 2014 after receiving treatment at the Birmingham hospital for a rare type of cancer called chondrosarcoma.

He left a ‘significant legacy gift’ to the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital (ROH) that has been used to build a new facility named The Dubrowsky Regenerative Medicine Laboratory, which opened last week.

The lab will focus on chondrosarcoma and cartilage research, and enable ROH to develop understanding and treatments for this rare disease.

“This new laboratory will enable our trust to conduct even more ground-breaking research in to rare cancers and orthopaedic treatments,” said Philip Begg, ROH director of strategy and delivery.

“The legacy of Michael Dubrowsky is monumental and will have an impact for many years to come.”

Dubrowsky was maintenance manager at Fine Lady Bakeries before his death at the age of 55, having joined the business from Harvestime in 2008.

Fine Lady Bakeries managing director Steve Cook, who knew Dubrowsky for around 30 years, described him as a “quiet and lovely guy”.

The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital is one of the largest specialist orthopaedic units in Europe, performing around 3,000 hip and knee replacements each year.