A Moment in History: The First Heart Transplant

On December 13, 1967, Dr. Christiaan Barnard made a new reality come true. At Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, the first heart transplant took place. In the early 1960s, doctors barely even knew the role of blood clots in heart attacks. Doctors went from knowing little about how life factors affect your heart, to switching the heart’s bodies in the same decade. The first human heart transplant changed medicine, broke barriers, and paved the way for everyday modern transplant surgery.

In the mid-20s, heart diseases were uncommon. Throughout the years, heart disease has become one of the most frequent causes of death in America. This increase was caused by living factors, like smoking and dietary changes. This left the patient with problems because of their cholesterol. In the 60s, the death rate declined rapidly.

Dr. Christiaan Barnard was born in 1922 in South Africa. He went to college at the University of Cape Town as well as the University of Minnesota. As a young doctor, his skills were mostly utilized on dogs. He worked in the US for three years, improving his technical skills with heart. Soon after he moved back to South Africa, he made history. In 1967, Dr. Barnard performed the first successful heart transplant surgery on Louis Washkansky.

Louis Washkansky was born in 1914 in Lithuania and then moved to Cape Town in 1922. In 1940, Washansky enlisted in the South African Armed Forces and was deployed in the Second World War. After returning home, Washkansky had his first heart attack in 1960. He struggled for seven years with heart problems. After his third heart attack in 1965, his heart was failing fast. He was soon admitted and had a diabetic coma, but later gained consciousness. This led to the idea of a heart transplant. Washkansky was all for the idea with an 80% success rate at the time.

The first transplant took place the morning of the 13th and took approximately 6 hours to perform. The operating room had over 30 medical professionals present, but the operation was ultimately successful. Unfortunately, Washkansky passed away 18 days after the operation due to pneumonia.

The first human heart transplant was more than a medical milestone; it changed how the world viewed medicine and life. Though the patient survived for a short period of time, the surgery paved the way for modern medicine and transplants. This transplant continues to inspire medical professionals to cause breakthroughs that save lives today.

Written by Hadlie Darke-Schreiber at Incisionary

APA References

Dalen, J. E., Alpert, J. S., Goldberg, R. J., & Weinstein, R. S. (2014). The epidemic of the 20th century: Coronary heart disease. The American Journal of Medicine, 127(9), 807–812. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjmed.2014.04.015

Heart of Cape Town Museum. (n.d.). Louis Washkansky: The world’s first heart transplant patient. Retrieved August 24, 2025, from https://heartofcapetown.co.za/louis-washkansky/

Trenoweth, A. (2018, December 3). Christiaan Barnard and the world’s first heart transplant. Alex Trenoweth. Retrieved August 24, 2025, from https://alextrenoweth.co.uk/christiaan-barnard-and-the-worlds-first-heart-transplant/

BBC News. (2019, August 14). The surgeon who performed the first heart transplant. BBC. Retrieved August 24, 2025, from https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-49337327