Unearthing Memorable News

Sifting through the sands of time has been a wonderful journey bringing back memories long forgotten ever since @ericvancewalton started posing questions for Memoir Mondays.

This week's question has been particularly challenging for me, as I have been around for a little over seven decades, so there was a load of sifting to do before I could respond to:

What's the first major news story you can remember living through as a child?

The most memorable and meaningful major news event I would like to talk about, is the first successful heart transplant in the world, which happened right here on South African soil, in Cape Town, at the Groote Schuur Hospital on 3 December 1967.

The cardio-thoracic surgeon who performed that first transplant, Dr. Christiaan Barnard, became an overnight sensation.

Louis Washkansky was the first recipient and only lived for eighteen days after the heart transplant, not due to the new heart, but because the drugs that were given to suppress this new foreign organ also destroyed his body's immunity, and he contracted pneumonia, which was what ultimately caused his death.
Immunosuppressants to prevent organ rejection have vastly improved, saving the lives of thousands of people whose organs fail to the point where the only option is a transplant.

Had they not performed this groundbreaking surgery, Washkansky would have died in any case.

^{Photo taken by me at the Blueberry Cafe, Netherwood Farm, that belongs to a world-renowned cardio-thoracic surgeon, Dr. Rob Kleinloog}

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I was already 14 at the time, and remember the excitement but also the controversy about this amazing feat that happened right here in our country.

There were many questions, debates and theories which I remember:

• Is it morally right to transplant an organ, especially a heart? People with strong religious beliefs felt it went against the law of nature.

• When Washansky died 18 days after the procedure, many skeptics felt that they were right, but that of course was disproved.

• Some absurd questions were raised about whether the recipient would not develop the same traits as the organ donor!

Of course, we now know that a couple of thousand people annually undergo successful heart transplants worldwide.

Why did this event come to mind when I was trying to tap into my brain's memory bank?

A very close friend who lost her younger son in a car crash was devastated to learn that her older son desperately needed a heart transplant. He was in and out of hospital during the five-year wait for a suitable heart, but did not let this stop him from making the best of his life.
His determination must have played a role in him surviving the long waiting period for a new heart.

During that long waiting period, my friend and her family attended many organ donor awareness campaigns. Here in South Africa one can register online with the Organ Donor Foundation.

When the phone call came to say a suitable heart had been found, there was much excitement and joy, but also sadness for the family who lost a loved one.

Co-incidentally, the cardio-thoracic surgeon who did the heart-transplant, also did my hubby's first triple bypass in 2002, which in fact 'outlived' him; it was a different artery that was damaged that led to his passing.

While hubby was alive, we visited the Blueberry Cafe on Netherwood Farm and were pleasantly surprised to discover the farm belonged to the same surgeon.

Rewinding back to that eventful day of 3 December 1967, one can imagine the trepidation by Dr. Chris Barnard, the heart recipient, the surgical team, as well as the family.

If it were not for this ground-breaking surgical procedure by ‘The surgeon who dared’, many lives would have been lost.

To end my story about the the first major news event I remember living through as a child, my wish is that many more people become aware of, and consider, becoming an organ donor, which will save the lives of many!

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Thank you Eric, for challenging us with these questions which are awakening many long-forgotten memories, and that they now are stored here in Hive, my forever memory bank!

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^{Artwork by @artywink}