3-06pm
Up by 7-30am, and an hour later we were seated at the Fish Hoek Methodist church for their family service. David & the youth leading the service…
One of the things I’ve wanted to do for some months now was to go to the Heart Transplant Museum at Groote Schuur Hospital. It’s called the Heart of Cape Town Museum and is the site of the world’s first heart transplant
They have several tours throughout the day, 7 days a week and we managed to get to the 11am tour. The full history of exactly what happened was given by a very knowledgeable tour guide. There are loads of pictures capturing the dramatic events of 3rd December 1967….with photos of the three main people involved at the entrance
Denise Durvall was knocked down on the Main Rd Observatory…
It was a tragic accident, in which her mother also lost her life. At the museum there is a room in memory of Denise…
They also have a room set up as Prof Chris Barnard’s office with a life-size model of the man himself.
Made of silicone, it is very lifelike! The tour is almost two hours long and it goes quickly. It includes a thirty minute film covering Chris Barnard’s life. The first heart transplant took place across two operating theatres, one for the donor with Prof Barnard’s brother Dr. Marius Barnard as the lead surgeon….
Right next door, the recipient was ready for the heart…
The details of the surgery captured on the theatre blackboard…
The operation started at 1am. The donor heart started beating inside Louis Washkansky’s chest at 5-58am…
It was a huge success and after immediate recovery, Louis went from strength to strength as this life size model depicts…
Louis Washkansky lived 18 days, before dying from pneumonia. His diseased heart has been preserved…
And so has Denise’s, the heart that kept Louis alive for 18 days…
Everything is set up as it would have been 46 years ago. It’s exceptionally well done and very impressive. For South African citizens it costs R100.
There was one little thing that caught my eye as I left! I spotted the pair of boots that Prof Chris Barnard used for the heart surgery…
Next to them was a newspaper article of how they had been stolen in 1969 and returned just last year…
Ha ha! As I read the article, I noticed one of the “criminals” was none other than Rene Bates! She is in our area and a certain pastor’s mother-in-law! Rene! I could just imagine her nicking the boots back in 1969! Well done for returning them!
Amazing what you learn when visiting the heart museum! 😀
Today, surgeons can give you a new human heart, but only God can give you a new spiritual heart…
Ezekiel 36:26
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”
God bless you!
In His Grip,
Helga xx 🙂
Gratitude Pic…Good outing with Julian. Afterwards, we stopped by Rhodes Memorial…
One Response to “We Stole Chris Barnard’s Boots!”