Who is Christiaan Barnard?

Christiaan Barnard was a South African surgeon. He became the first surgeon ever to perform a heart transplant operation. The first surgery was performed in 1967. His achievements also include the first double-heart transplant surgery in 1974.

Barnard's first patient, Louis Washkansky, became the first recipient of a human heart transplant in the history of world medicine. This man of 54 suffered from coronary artery disease. He agreed to undergo a dangerous that had been never performed before. The operation was considered a success, as the heart of a young woman killed in an accident worked well and without any artificial stimulation in Louis' system.