091322 140 year history - A4 landscape v1 digital - Flipbook - Page 84
Pioneers in
1957
Open-Heart Surgery Patients
When he was nine years old Rodney
Merrett (on the left in a check dressing
gown) became the first person to have
open-heart surgery in NSW. A new
American heart-lung machine was used
and four Australian and US surgeons
were in attendance. Rodney spent
six weeks in the Page Chest Pavilion
and years later he would recall how
he and other children who had the
operation around the same time staved
off boredom by playing tricks on the
nurses and even taking off for walks in
the street. In this picture US surgeon Dr
Henry Bahnson is revisiting some of his
young heart surgery patients.
RPA Museum Image Collection
1986
First Liver Transplant
The National Liver Transplant Unit at Royal Prince Alfred performed its first liver transplant
in January 1986. Headed by Professor Sheil, the operation took 14 hours to perform with 26
specialised staff using two theatres simultaneously. The first liver transplant in Australia had
taken place in 1968 but it was not until the 1980s that liver transplantation became a successful
procedure. After five years of performing transplants the National Liver Transplant Unit was able
to report that 75 per cent of recipients, who would otherwise have died, survived at least a year.
RPA Museum Image Collection
84