This Day in History: , First Human br Heart Transplant.br December 3, 1967.br Louis Washkansky, 53, received the br first human heart transplant atbr Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa.br He received the transplant from br Denise Darvall, a 25-year-old woman br who was fatally injured in a car accident.br Surgeon Christiaan Barnard performed br the revolutionary medical operation.br Tragically, the anti-rejection br drugs given to Washkansky br caused him to contract br double pneumonia.br He died 18 days later.