Question:
When were you notified that your Brother-in-Law had received the first heart transplant and were you proud of him?
Answer:
I found out the day it happened. My sister, Ann Washansky, called that they completed the operation and everyone was praying that it would be successful. We were very proud that he had the courage to have the operation. The most important thing to him was to live.
What kind of person was he?
Answer:
He was a special human being. He was a loving and a very charitable person. He was a caring person and was loved by all. Whenever he could he would always help somebody.
Question:
What gave him the courage to do it?
Answer:
Because he wanted to live. He also loved life and Hashem gave him the courage to do it.
Question:
When and where was he born, and when did he die?
Answer:
He was born in a little town in Lithuania, Slobaska. When he was a child he and his family moved to South Africa. He was the youngest of four children and his parents were Orthodox. He was born in 1913. He was in his mid fifties when he died in 1967.
Question:
Will there be or is there already a memorial place for him?
Answer:
This month in Cape Town, South Africa, at the Grooteschuur Hospital they are opening a whole new wing as a heart department. They are dedicating it in his name.
Question:
Who was the doctor and did he succeed?
Answer:
The doctor's name was Professor Barnard Christian. The operation was successful for 18 days.
Question:
How long did the surgery take?
Answer:
It took from 4 to 6 hours.