First person to receive pig heart transplant dies months after surgery
by The Associated Press & Scripps National · ABC15 ArizonaThe first person to receive a heart transplant from a pig has died.
The University of Maryland announced that the 57-year-old man died Tuesday, two months after the groundbreaking experiment.
It is unknown at this time if David Bennett died as a direct result of receiving of a foreign organ.
He was a candidate for the dramatic attempt only because he was dying and wasn't eligible for a human heart transplant.
Before his surgery in January, he said, “I want to live. I know it’s a shot in the dark, but it’s my last choice.”
Bennett’s surgery showed for the first time a gene-edited animal heart can function in the human body without immediate rejection.
After the surgery, Bennett still had to use an ECMO machine to help pump blood through his body, USA Today reported.