麻豆约拍

Surgeon Stephen Westaby explores the events leading up to the first heart transplant and reflects on the consequences of that extraordinary medical breakthrough.

"The heart is merely a pump," said Christiaan Barnard, a little-known Cape Town surgeon who became famous overnight following the dramatic events of 3rd December 1967 when he led a 30-strong team through the landmark procedure.

A survival story, a daring professional achievement, a watershed moment in the relationship of the public to the medical profession, it also proved to be a turning point in our conceptions of identity and body, raising fundamental questions of what makes us who we are.

Through archive and new interviews with those who worked with Barnard - or came to know him later in life, as Stephen Westaby did, when Barnard became an increasingly eccentric figure - the programme explores the myths and ethics surrounding the man and medical technique he pioneered.

Produced by Phil Smith
A Somethin' Else production for 麻豆约拍 Radio 4.