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Dying Man First Person To Receive Animal Heart In Transplant

Stock image: Jonathan Borba/Pexels

57 year-old living in the US

A dying man in the US has become the first in the world to receive a pig's heart in a transplant.

57-year-old David Bennett is said to be breathing by himself - three days after receiving the genetically-modified organ.

The operation, taking place at the University of Maryland Medical Centre, lasted 7 hours.

Mr. Bennett, who has terminal heart disease, had been previously deemed too ill to receive a human heart.

It's too soon to know if the transplant will work long-term, but his surgeon Professor Bartley Griffith says it's a lifeline:

Mr. Bennett had previously said he had two options, to die, or undergo the experimental procedure.

 

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