Pig Heart Transplant Patient Dies, Dr Bartley: He Was Courageous And Noble Who Struggled To The End

Heart transplant patient David Bennett (Antara)

JAKARTA – In early 2021, surgeons in the US succeeded in transplanting a genetically modified pig heart into a patient. This action was carried out because the patient was dying of heart disease.

The patient, David Bennet Sr., aged 57, had terminal heart disease. Bennett was the first to receive the pig's heart transplant. After two months after surgery, on Tuesday, March 8th, Bennett passed away.

Reporting from Sputnik News, the cause of death is not yet known. However, doctors at the University of Maryland Medical Center where Bennett died, said the deceased's condition had begun to deteriorate several days earlier.

“We are devastated by the loss of Mr Bennett. He proved to be a brave and noble patient who fought to the end,” said Dr Bartley Griffith, principal surgeon of the Bennett transplant performed by the University of Maryland School of Medicine faculty at the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) on Jan. 7.

"We are grateful for every groundbreaking moment, every crazy dream, every sleepless night that went into this historic endeavour," David Bennett Jr. said in a statement released by the University of Maryland School of Medicine. "We hope this story can be the beginning of hope and not the end."

Previously, Bennett was deemed ineligible for conventional heart transplants at UMMC as well as at several other leading transplant centers that conduct medical record reviews.