Looking at my heart - Philip Blaiberg

In December 1967 Dr Philip Blaiberg was dying and he knew it. For years a heart condition had made ordinary activity laborious: now he found it an unendurable strain. Gasping for air, he had to inhale oxygen by face mask. His brain was dulled and all his faculties sluggish. Death would be a welcome release.

Three months later he walked out of Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town, with a new heart and a new hope of useful and enjoyable life.

Here, in his own words, the second man to live with a transplanted heart tells his nearly unbelievable story. Whatever view may be taken of the ethics and the scientific importance of spare-part surgery, Dr Blaiberg's quiet courage and integrity are a guarantee of this book's unique human appeal and tasting value.