On this day Christiaan Barnard performed the first successful heart transplant on patient Louis Washkansky, using the heart of Denise Darvall, a young woman who had died in an accident. Although Washkansky died of pneumonia 18 days after the operation, the procedure was a medical triumph and put Barnard on the global stage. His subsequent transplant on Philip Blaiberg, who survived for 19 months, demonstrated the further potential of this new surgical method. Christiaan Barnard also set up the ‘Christiaan Barnard Foundation’ for disadvantaged children.
Dr. Barnard, one of the most famous man of my youth.
A real breakthrough in medical progress!
N.B. man ➝ men 😉