Patient in Groundbreaking Heart Transplant Dies

The first person to have his failing heart replaced with that of a genetically altered pig in a groundbreaking operation died Tuesday afternoon at the University of Maryland Medical Center, two months after the transplant surgery. From a report: David Bennett Sr., who lived in Maryland, was 57. He had severe heart disease, and had agreed to receive the experimental pig's heart after he was rejected from several waiting lists to receive a human heart. It was unclear whether his body had rejected the foreign organ. "There was no obvious cause identified at the time of his death," a hospital spokeswoman told the newspaper. The report adds: Hospital officials said they could not comment further on the cause of death, because his physicians had yet to conduct a thorough examination. They plan to publish the results in a peer-reviewed medical journal. Dr. Bartley Griffith, the surgeon who performed the transplant, said the hospital's staff was "devastated" by the loss of Mr. Bennett. "He proved to be a brave and noble patient who fought all the way to the end," Dr. Griffith said. "Mr. Bennett became known by millions of people around the world for his courage and steadfast will to live."

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