GRADE LEVEL SECTION SUB-SECTION DURATION
6 AFRICAN HISTORY HISTORY OF MEDICINE 10 LESSONS

The History of Medicine
Louis Washkansky

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Louis Washkanski after his heart transplant.
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk

Louis Washkanski was a Jewish immigrant who came to South Africa from Lithuania when he was 9 years old. He became a grocer in Green Point in Cape Town and took part in World War II. He fought in East and North Africa and Italy.

Washkanski liked playing soccer, swimming and did weightlifting until he had a heart attack. By 1965 after his third attack, his heart became very weak. The heart muscle swelled, beat irregularly and he couldn’t breathe properly. He was 53 years old and his heart couldn’t pump well enough for oxygen and nutrients needed to keep him alive. He needed a new heart to survive.

Nobody had ever successfully transplanted a human heart and Washkanski volunteered to be the first one to do so. A young woman, Denise Darvall, who died in a car accident at 25, became the first heart donor. Professor Chris Barnard did the transplant and the operation was a success. Washkanski had to take medicine to suppress his immune system so that his body would not accept his new heart and this made him very open to infections. He got pneumonia, and although he could talk and walk after the operation, he died 18 days later.

Outcomes: The learner is able to use information from sources to answer questions about Louis Washkansky, and to use common words relating to the passing of time.

Exercise

  1. Who is the man in Picture A?
  2. Where was he born?
  3. When did he come to South Africa?
  4. How old was he when his he needed a heart transplant?

 

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