The patient, Louis Washkansky, survived 18 days after the operation — long enough to prove the procedure was viable, which it hadn't been considered before. The surgery made global headlines and established South Africa, and Barnard, at the centre of a medical breakthrough that reshaped modern surgery.
Source: Groote Schuur Hospital / University of Cape Town
Frequently Asked Questions
Did the world's first heart transplant patient survive?
Louis Washkansky survived 18 days after the December 1967 operation before dying of pneumonia — long enough to prove the transplant itself had worked, paving the way for the procedure to be refined and repeated worldwide.
Is heart transplantation common today?
Yes — techniques pioneered and refined after Barnard's operation have made heart transplants a routine, if still major, procedure performed thousands of times a year worldwide.