March 9, 2022 — David Bennett Sr., the 57-year-old affected person with terminal coronary heart illness who grew to become the primary individual to obtain a genetically modified pig coronary heart, has died.
Bennett handed away Tuesday, in line with an announcement from the College of Maryland Medical Middle in Baltimore, the place the transplant was carried out.
Bennett acquired the transplant on Jan. 7 and lived for two months after it.
Though not giving the precise reason for his loss of life, the medical middle stated Bennett’s situation started getting worse a number of days earlier than his loss of life.
When it grew to become clear that he wouldn’t get better, he was given compassionate palliative care and was in a position to talk along with his household throughout his closing hours.
“We’re devastated by the lack of Mr. Bennett. He proved to be a courageous and noble affected person who fought all the best way to the tip. We lengthen our sincerest condolences to his household,” Bartley P. Griffith, MD, who carried out the transplant, stated within the assertion.
“We’re grateful to Mr. Bennett for his distinctive and historic position in serving to to contribute to an enormous array of information to the sphere of xenotransplantation,” which is the method of transplanting organs between totally different species, stated Muhammad M. Mohiuddin, MD, director of the cardiac xenotransplantation program at College of Maryland Faculty of Medication.
Earlier than receiving the genetically modified pig coronary heart, Bennett wanted mechanical help to remain alive however was rejected for the standard coronary heart transplant on the College of Maryland Medical Middle and different facilities.
After the surgical procedure, the transplanted pig coronary heart carried out nicely for a number of weeks with none indicators of rejection. Bennett was in a position to spend time along with his household and do bodily remedy to assist regain energy.
“This organ transplant demonstrated for the primary time {that a} genetically modified animal coronary heart can operate like a human coronary heart with out speedy rejection by the physique,” the medical middle stated in an announcement 3 days after the surgical procedure.
Due to Bennett, “we’ve gained invaluable insights studying that the genetically modified pig coronary heart can operate nicely throughout the human physique whereas the immune system is sufficiently suppressed,” stated Mohiuddin.
“We stay optimistic and plan on persevering with our work in future scientific trials,” he stated.
Bennett’s son, David Bennett Jr, stated the household is “profoundly grateful for the life-extending alternative” given to his father by the “stellar group” on the College of Maryland Faculty of Medication and the College of Maryland Medical Middle.
“We have been in a position to spend some valuable weeks collectively whereas he recovered from the transplant surgical procedure, weeks we might not have had with out this miraculous effort,” Bennett Jr. stated.
“We additionally hope that what was realized from his surgical procedure will profit future sufferers and hopefully sooner or later, finish the organ scarcity that prices so many lives every year,” he stated.
