Today in History: Dr Philip Blaiberg dies in Cape Town

On 17 August 1969, dentist Dr Philip Blaiberg died in Cape Town, 19 months and 15 days after he underwent a successful heart transplant.

The operation was done by Dr Chris Barnard in January, 1968 and Blaiberg was the longest-surviving heart transplant patient up to that time.

This operation was Barnard’s second after he had performed the first transplant on Louis Washkansky in 1967.

Information sourced from: South African History Online.