Dr Chris Barnard caused a world sensation in December 1967 by performing the first human heart transplant, transforming him overnight from an unknown surgeon into a household name. Although he wrote a number of books about himself, and his first wife, Louwtjie, wrote a book in reply to one of them, there has never been a full scale, objective biography of the man named by Time Magazine as one of only two South Africans on a list of people who had changed the world - the other being Nelson Mandela. The author covers Barnard's boyhood in Beaufort West, his medical training, his marriage to Louwtjie and his first fulltime job, to his becoming a surgeon, and finally succeeding in a human transplant. He discusses how Barnard became transformed into a social butterfly, wearing Italian suits and having affairs with celebrities such as Gina Lollobrigida and Francoise Hardy, resulting in his divorce from Louwtjie. He then fell in love with and married a 19-year-old model, Barbara Zoellner. We see how he collaborated with Eschel Rhoodie's Department of Information; a period about which Logan has uncovered previously unpublished details.

In this new biography of Chris Barnard we not only learn about the life of South Africa's most famous surgeon, from his Beaufort West childhood through his studies locally and abroad to his prominent marriages - and divorces - but James Styan also examines the impact of the historic heart transplant on Barnard's personal life and South African society at large, where apartheid legislation often made the difficulties of medicine even more convoluted. The role of black medical staff like Hamilton Naki is explored, as is the intense rivalry that arose between other famous heart surgeons and Barnard. How did Barnard manage to beat them all in this race of life and death? How much did his famous charisma have to do with it all? And in the light of his later years, his subsequent successes and considerable failures, what is Barnard's legacy today? Styan covers it all in this fascinating new account of a real heartbreaker.

The dramatic race to transplant the first human heart spanned two years, three continents and five cities against a backdrop of searing tension, scientific brilliance, ethical controversy, racial strife and emotional turmoil. It culminated in a terrifying moment in the early hours of 3 December 1967 when, in a cramped operating theatre in a Cape Town hospital, Professor Chris Barnard stared into an empty cavity from which he had just removed a heart. He knew that he had only minutes left to make history and save the life of a 55-year-old man by filling the gaping hole in his chest with a heart which had just been beating inside a 25-year-old woman. Every Second Countsis the story of this gripping race to conquer the greatest of medical challenges. It also reveals the truth about the man at the centre of it all, whose turbulent life story was just as gripping. The kind of true story that would be dismissed as far-fetched if presented as fiction, it combines an utterly compelling portrait of cutting-edge science with raw human drama, and shows how the course of medicine itself was changed for ever.

This is an extremely entertaining and life-saving book from one of the most famous doctors of our time. Full of lively gems, this practical book provides all the information you need to prevent heart disease. The author offers clear and thoroughly up-to-date information on every aspect of your lifestyle and how it relates to heart health.He combines personal anecdotes -- from friend Peter Sellers' heart crisis to the company which offered Barnard $50,000 for the operating gloves he had unthinkingly thrown away after conducting his first heart transplant.Christiaan Barnard analyzes every key area of our lives, including: -- Avoiding dieting-- Eating the right fats-- Drinking red wine-- Laughing more often-- Spending more time with friends-- Enjoying regular sex

Marius Barnard is best known as a member of the pioneering medical team that performed the world’s first human heart transplant at Groote Schuur Hospital in 1967, with his brother Chris. But his achievements extended into other spheres. He was an active anti-apartheid campaigner and MP for the Progressive Federal Party, he worked to improve cardiac surgery standards behind the Iron Curtain and globally, and he played a leading role in the creation of critical illness insurance - his invention, and one that has directly benefited the sick around the world. From humble beginnings as the son of missionary parents in the dusty Karoo town of Beaufort West to his position as one of the world’s leading cardiac surgeons, Marius Barnard’s story is a fascinating and remarkable chronicle of personal determination and courage. It is one of few first-hand accounts of the inaugural human heart transplant and its far-reaching repercussions, both in the world of medicine and in the private lives of its pioneers. In this sincere and deeply personal memoir, Barnard speaks frankly about his relationships with his brother, his colleagues and his adversaries, and describes with humility his fourteen-year struggle with cancer. With candour, authenticity and charm, Defining Moments presents the formidable challenges and spellbinding successes in the life of this international medical icon.

This is the story of Deirdre Barnard - champion water-skier, daughter of pioneering heart surgeon Chris Barnard, woman in her own right. In this wise and funny book, Deirdre Barnard stands up and tells it like it is - about life in the Barnard family as they coped with the successes and losses that befell them, about the heartless intrusions into privacy that were the flip side of fame, about bereavement and true friendship and the sustaining power of family. Deirdre Barnard is an entertaining and courageously forthright storyteller with a wicked wit. This is a moving account of her sometimes painful but ultimately uplifting personal journey; its compassion and humour will touch us all.