First pig heart transplant patient dies after two months

The first person to receive a heart transplant from a pig has died, two months after the surgery. David Bennett, 57, died at the University of Maryland Medical Center on Tuesday.

However, doctors didn’t give an exact cause of death and stated that his condition has been deteriorating for the last couple of days.

The historical experimental surgery took place on January 7. The doctors successfully replaced Bennett’s heart with a genetically modified pig.

Doctors for decades have been trying to use animal organs for life-saving transplants. Bennett, a handyman from Hagerstown, Maryland, was a candidate for this newest attempt only because he otherwise faced certain death — ineligible for a human heart transplant, bedridden and on life support, and out of other options.