At the airport yesterday I saw a new book on Professor Chris Barnard by James-Brent Styan: ‘Heartbreaker’.
It’s fifty years since the world’s first heart transplant and the famous surgeon and playboy is in the news again, as people use the anniversary to look back afresh . .
A while ago I had found Aitch’s 1983 diary. Her entries to record her overtime as a cardiovascular perfusionist assisting during heart ops had abbreviations likes “palliative VSD 1.5hrs; MVR 1.5hrs; CVG”.
One of her entries in December was ’17h00 Wed 14 Dec Farewell for CNB, Nurses Lounge, Clarendon House’. I knew that CNB meant Christiaan Neethling Barnard as she worked with him at the time. She would run the heart-lung machine to oxygenate the blood while he and the other surgeons worked on the patient’s heart.
I had time before my flight so I thought I wonder if they have anything about his retirement in the book? and flipped through it.
And there she was on page 216:
So I had to buy it to show the pic to Jess and Tom. Jess said “Cool”; Tom shrugged: “We knew Mom was famous!”
~~~oo0oo~~~
A few years prior to this, Jess had been able to Show and Tell her classmates about her Mom.
Reblogged this on A Bushsnob in Africa and commented:
The second post on Dr. Barnard by bewilderbeast.org. Grateful for your agreement to post them.
Two great posts on Barnard. I did the oohing and aahing. Well done for your wife´s contribution to such a medical breakthrough!!!
Oh, Trish came in well after CNB was already famous. First transplant 1967 and she joined the team ca. 1980 I’d guess. But yeah, we enjoyed the reflected glory!
I think Tom and Jess said it all! She was a star – miss her lots.