CHRISTIAAN BARNARD EEN LEWE
by
Bill Curtis Pepper
Publishers: Tafelberg-Uitgewers, Cape Town. 1970 Signed.
Condition: Fine. Bright, fine d/j. Clean tight copy. 67 illustrations: historic b/w photos. 417 pp 9 x 6.5 x 4cm Lovely clear big signature by Prof Barnard under the photo frontispiece.
The name Chris Barnard is well-recognised worldwide. This South African heart surgeon amazed the world when he succeeded in doing the first human heart transplant, and then continued to overwhelm with his smile and charm. Health24's Mari Hudson reflects on his many achievements.
Chris Barnard is one of the best known South Africans of all time. He became the hero the world needed: the committed, "good doctor" who could pull patients back from where they were teetering on the brink of death, who could give them new hearts – that magical symbol of love and life – and who could give them their lives back.
What's more, at the age of 45 – when he became world famous after the first heart transplant – he looked incredibly young for a professor. His boyish good looks and natural charm did the rest. He dined with movie stars, spent time in the company of princes and princesses, was praised by almost every country on the planet, was crowded by fans at airports, and was revered everywhere he went. His name was linked to those of Gina Lollobrigida, Sophia Loren and Francoise Hardy. He danced with Princess Grace, conversed with Prince Charles, and was entertained by the Shah of Iran as well as President Lyndon B. Johnson of the United States.
Now, 41 years after the first heart transplant, many foreigners still know of South Africa because, years ago and for a very long time, they linked the country to the names Chris Barnard, Groote Schuur Hospital and Cape Town.
The first heart transplant
The heart transplant on Louis Washkansky, which was done during the night of 2/3 December 1967, was a watershed moment for this surgeon. His life changed unexpectedly and dramatically. This man who was born in 1922 from missionary parents in Beaufort-West, who had an impoverished upbringing, who qualified in 1946 as doctor at the University of Cape Town and later as a surgeon, who lived in a regular home with his wife and two children, was suddenly famous.
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