On December 3rd, 1967, 53-year-old Lewis Washkansky underwent the first successful heart transplant in Cape Town, South Africa. Surgeon Christiaan Barnard, who trained at the University of Cape Town and in the United States, performed the revolutionary medical operation. After Washkansky’s surgery, the drugs he was given to keep his body from rejecting the heart unfortunately caused him to develop pneumonia. While his new heart was performing perfectly, he met his unfortunate death a mere 18 days later. In the 1970s, the development of better anti-rejection drugs made transplantation more viable- increasing the success of heart transplants around the world. Successful heart transplant surgery continues to be performed today, although finding appropriate donors is extremely difficult.
