Remembering Chris Barnard

[caption id="attachment_231459" align="aligncenter" width="512"] Chris Barnard at a medical conference in Florence, Italy, in 1969.
Image: Getty Images[/caption]

Lily Cameron‚ 93‚ was overwhelmed when she saw a life-size silicone model of her dear friend Louis Washkansky – the first man to have a human heart transplant – at the Heart of Cape Town Museum.

“He looks so real‚ like he was alive‚ lying there on the operating table‚” she said of Washkansky‚ who got a new heart from exceptional surgeon Chris Barnard and his expert team at Groote Schuur Hospital 50 years ago on 3 December 1967.

Scenes of the operation have been recreated at the museum in the two green-tiled theatres‚ the original scene where the bold operation took place.

Down the corridor a life-size model of Barnard is stretched out in a chair in front of a large desk.

Former secretary Celeste McCann recalled that he had three phones on his desk and she had three phones on hers.

“He was very perceptive‚” she said‚ remembering one time he came to take a call at her desk. “He looked down when he was talking and said to me: ‘You should drink your tea‚ it’s getting cold.’”

The museum has no tea cups on the desk‚ but it has an impressive array of artefacts and records on display in its corridors‚ including many telegrams from admirers around the world.

Most poignant is a bedroom that replicates that of the first heart donor‚ 25-year-old bank teller Denise Darvall‚ which is dedicated to all donors. Dresses she sketched in a notebook have been sewed and hung on mannequins and one of her childhood dolls lies on her bed.

Walking through the animal research laboratory‚ with a model dog with a mask on the table‚ felt eerie.

From there visitors can watch a film called The Gift of Life‚ which documents the drama of the first heart transplant. Guides include transplant experts like Dene Friedmann‚ a perfusionist who was involved in the first heart transplant and subsequent pioneering operations with Barnard. Barnard and her father were close friends.

In an interview she said that Barnard was a loyal and compassionate friend to her family. He would come every week to listen to records of Brahms or the Ink Spots with her father Bert in the lounge‚ with a glass of whisky‚ when he was in town.

When her dad developed lung cancer‚ Barnard helped to track down an experimental drug for him.

“Once my mother was very frightened of having an anaesthetic for an operation and Chris said: 'Don’t worry‚ I’ll be there.’ Even though he was so busy‚ on the morning of her operation he stood with her and said: 'I’m here‚ you’ll be alright.'''

Barnard also saved the life of a dear friend of hers who had a heart attack‚ Friedmann said.

“He understood patients’ fear and put himself out to give them confidence.”

The Heart of Cape Town is an engaging museum from the moment you step through the door.

Another tribute to trailblazers of the heart can be found at the Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital in Cape Town‚ which currently has an art exhibition displaying Barnard’s memorabilia. From the 9th to the 14th floor‚ you can find exhibits of these men and women and the era in which they worked‚ as well as displays that celebrate recent advances in the field of cardiology.

*Visit www.heartofcapetown.co.za for details about the museum or contact the dedicated curator Piet Lotter on 021-404-1967