First successful heart transplant. On December 3, 1967, in Cape Town, South Africa, fifty-three-year-old Lewis Washkansky underwent the first successful heart transplant in history. Washkansky, who suffered from chronic heart disease, received his new heart from Denise Darvall, a twenty-five-year-old who had died in a car accident. The revolutionary operation was performed by cardiac surgeon Christiaan Barnard. After the procedure, Washkansky underwent drug therapy to reduce his immune defenses and prevent rejection. However, the drugs also exposed him to a greater risk of disease, and he died 18 days later of double pneumonia. Nonetheless, Washkansky’s new heart functioned normally until his death. In the 1970s, the development of better anti-rejection drugs made heart transplants safer.
