3 December 1967
South African Dr Chris Barnard performs the world’s first human heart transplant
On 3 December 1967 Dr Christiaan (Chris) Barnard performed the world’s first human to human heart transplant at Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa. After a decade of heart surgery, Barnard and his gifted cardiothoracic team of thirty (that included his brother Marius), were well equipped to perform the nine hour long operation.
The recipient was Louis Washkansky, a fifty three year old grocer with debilitating heart disease who was near to death. Washkansky received the heart of Denise Darvall, a young woman who was run over by a car on 2 December and had been declared brain dead after very serious brain damage. Her father, Edward Darvall agreed to the donation of his daughter's heart and kidneys. The operation started shortly after midnight on a Saturday night and was completed the next morning just before 6 a.m. when the new heart in the chest of Louis Washkansky was electrically shocked into action. After gaining consciousness and strength post-operatively, he was able to talk and on occasion, to walk. He then deteriorated and later died of pneumonia eighteen days after the heart transplant.
Apart from the remarkable surgical abilities of Professor Barnard and his team, the skills of many other disciplines were needed for this historic operation, while many people supported the project in the background in different ways.
Related links:
Biography, Dr Chris Barnard
Biography, Dr Naki
Sources:
- Malan, M. (1968). Heart Transplant: The Story Of Barnard and the “Ultimate In Cardiac Surgery”, Johannesburg: Voortrekkerspers.
- The World's First Human to Human Heart Transplant. Historical background. web.uct.ac.za
- Christiaan Barnard, biography. notablebiographies.com