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Thirteen people in surgical caps and scrubs seen huddled around a medical table with medical equipment.
An early heart transplant surgery in Poland (1969). (Photo: University of Łódź, permission by Ryszard Jaszewski)

First heart transplant takes place.

1967

MED
GLSO
An early heart transplant surgery in Poland (1969). (Photo: University of Łódź, permission by Ryszard Jaszewski)

The transplant takes place in Cape Town, South Africa. It gains global attention both because of the innovation of the surgery and because of the multiracial team that contributes to its success.

One member of the team, Hamilton Naki, is officially a gardener at the hospital, as he had no access to medical education due to the country's apartheid laws, and so he learned medical procedures by observing them. Naki will later be awarded an honorary medical degree due to the extent of his participation in many groundbreaking surgeries.