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First person to receive pig heart transplant dies months after surgery

In this photo provided by the University of Maryland School of Medicine, David Bennett Jr., right, stands next to his father's hospital bed in Baltimore, Md., on Jan. 12, 2022, five days after doctors transplanted a pig heart into Bennett Sr., in a last-ditch effort to save his life. Bennett, the first person to receive a heart transplant from a pig died Tuesday, March 8, at the University of Maryland Medical Center, two months after the groundbreaking experiment. His death was announced Wednesday.(University of Maryland School of Medicine via AP)
by: WRTV Staff
Posted: / Updated:

The first person to receive a heart transplant from a pig has died.

The University of Maryland announced that the 57-year-old man died Tuesday, two months after the groundbreaking experiment.

It is unknown at this time if David Bennett died as a direct result of receiving of a foreign organ.

He was a candidate for the dramatic attempt only because he was dying and wasn’t eligible for a human heart transplant.

Before his surgery in January, he said, “I want to live. I know it’s a shot in the dark, but it’s my last choice.”

Bennett’s surgery showed for the first time a gene-edited animal heart can function in the human body without immediate rejection.

After the surgery, Bennett still had to use an ECMO machine to help pump blood through his body, USA Today reported.

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