A 57-year-old man with terminal heart disease who made history as the first person to receive a genetically modified pig’s heart died on Tuesday at the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC), the hospital said.
David Bennett received the transplant on Jan 7.
His condition began deteriorating several days ago, the hospital said in a statement on Wednesday, and he was given “compassionate palliative care” after it became clear that he would not recover.
Bennett “wasn’t able to overcome what turned out to be the devastating debilitation” caused by the heart failure he experienced before the transplant, Dr. Bartley Griffith, director of the UMCC cardiac transplant program, said in a videotaped statement.
The transplanted heart functioned “beautifully,” Griffith said.
Bennett was able to communicate with his family during his final hours, the hospital said.
