Denise Darvall
Encyclopedia
Denise Ann Darvall was the donor
in the world’s first successful human heart transplant, performed at Groote Schuur Hospital
, South Africa
, by a team of surgeons led by Christiaan Barnard
.
Darvall was seriously injured in a car accident
on Main Road in Observatory
, Cape Town
. She and her family were visiting friends for afternoon tea and went shopping for cake. They were run over by a drunk driver who failed to see them. Her mother died immediately. Darvall sustained a skull fracture
and severe head injuries, after the car flung her across the road and her head hit the wheel cap of her own car. She could not stay alive without life support
, and was essentially brain dead
. At 9 p.m. on the day of the accident, the resuscitation team stopped trying to revive her.
Surgeons had a serious ethical problem because death then could only be declared by whole-body standards. The Harvard Criteria of Brain Death did not begin until 1968. The problem in this case was that, although Denise's brain was damaged, her heart was healthy. So why would it stop? Various reports over the years attributed conflicting reasons for her heart stopping. The answer has recently become known. For forty years, Barnard's brother Marius kept a secret: that rather than wait for her heart to stop beating, at Marius’s urging, Christiaan had injected potassium into Denise’s heart to paralyze it and thus, to render her technically dead by the whole-body standard.
After her father gave his consent, Darvall's heart
was donated to Louis Washkansky
. Her kidney
s were given to 10-year-old Jonathan van Wyk. Due to the apartheid era, the kidney donation to Van Wyk was controversial because he was coloured
, while Denise was white.
Organ donation
Organ donation is the donation of biological tissue or an organ of the human body, from a living or dead person to a living recipient in need of a transplantation. Transplantable organs and tissues are removed in a surgical procedure following a determination, based on the donor's medical and...
in the world’s first successful human heart transplant, performed at Groote Schuur Hospital
Groote Schuur Hospital
Groote Schuur Hospital is a large, government-funded, teaching hospital situated on the slopes of Devil's Peak in the city of Cape Town, South Africa...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, by a team of surgeons led by Christiaan Barnard
Christiaan Barnard
Christiaan Neethling Barnard was a South African cardiac surgeon who performed the world's first successful human-to-human heart transplant.- Early life :...
.
Darvall was seriously injured in a car accident
Car accident
A traffic collision, also known as a traffic accident, motor vehicle collision, motor vehicle accident, car accident, automobile accident, Road Traffic Collision or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other stationary obstruction,...
on Main Road in Observatory
Observatory, Cape Town
Observatory is a suburb in Cape Town, South Africa, bordered by Mowbray to the south, and Salt River to the north. The area is best known as student neighborhood, most of whom attend the University of Cape Town located close by, and for being the home of the South African Astronomical Observatory...
, Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
. She and her family were visiting friends for afternoon tea and went shopping for cake. They were run over by a drunk driver who failed to see them. Her mother died immediately. Darvall sustained a skull fracture
Skull fracture
A skull fracture is a break in one or more of the bones in the skull usually occurring as a result of blunt force trauma. If the force of the impact is excessive the bone may fracture at or near the site of the impact...
and severe head injuries, after the car flung her across the road and her head hit the wheel cap of her own car. She could not stay alive without life support
Life support
Life support, in medicine is a broad term that applies to any therapy used to sustain a patient's life while they are critically ill or injured. There are many therapies and techniques that may be used by clinicians to achieve the goal of sustaining life...
, and was essentially brain dead
Brain death
Brain death is the irreversible end of all brain activity due to total necrosis of the cerebral neurons following loss of brain oxygenation. It should not be confused with a persistent vegetative state...
. At 9 p.m. on the day of the accident, the resuscitation team stopped trying to revive her.
Surgeons had a serious ethical problem because death then could only be declared by whole-body standards. The Harvard Criteria of Brain Death did not begin until 1968. The problem in this case was that, although Denise's brain was damaged, her heart was healthy. So why would it stop? Various reports over the years attributed conflicting reasons for her heart stopping. The answer has recently become known. For forty years, Barnard's brother Marius kept a secret: that rather than wait for her heart to stop beating, at Marius’s urging, Christiaan had injected potassium into Denise’s heart to paralyze it and thus, to render her technically dead by the whole-body standard.
After her father gave his consent, Darvall's heart
Heart
The heart is a myogenic muscular organ found in all animals with a circulatory system , that is responsible for pumping blood throughout the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions...
was donated to Louis Washkansky
Louis Washkansky
Louis Washkansky was the recipient of the world's first human heart transplant.-Biography:Washkansky was a Lithuanian Jew who migrated with his friends to South Africa in 1922, aged nine, and became a grocer in Cape Town. Washkansky saw active service in World War II in East and North Africa and...
. Her kidney
Kidney
The kidneys, organs with several functions, serve essential regulatory roles in most animals, including vertebrates and some invertebrates. They are essential in the urinary system and also serve homeostatic functions such as the regulation of electrolytes, maintenance of acid–base balance, and...
s were given to 10-year-old Jonathan van Wyk. Due to the apartheid era, the kidney donation to Van Wyk was controversial because he was coloured
Coloured
In the South African, Namibian, Zambian, Botswana and Zimbabwean context, the term Coloured refers to an heterogenous ethnic group who possess ancestry from Europe, various Khoisan and Bantu tribes of Southern Africa, West Africa, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaya, India, Mozambique,...
, while Denise was white.