Barnard grew up in Beaufort West, Cape Province, Union of South Africa. His father, Adam Barnard, was a minister in the Dutch Reformed Church. One of his four brothers, Abraham, was a "blue baby" who died of a heart problem at the age of three (Barnard would later guess that it was tetralogy of Fallot). The family also experienced the loss of a daughter who was stillborn and who had been the fraternal twin of Barnard's older brother Johannes, who was twelve years older than Chris.

Following the first successful kidney transplant in 1953, in the United States, Barnard performed the second kidney transplant in South Africa in October 1967, the first being done in Johannesburg the previous year.  On 23 January 1964, James Hardy at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, Mississippi, performed the world's first heart transplant and world's first cardiac xenotransplant by transplanting the heart of a chimpanzee into a desperately ill and dying man. This heart did beat in the patient's chest for approximately 60 to 90 minutes. The patient, Boyd Rush, died without ever regaining consciousness.  Barnard had experimentally transplanted forty-eight hearts into dogs, which was about a fifth the number that Adrian Kantrowitz had performed at Maimonides Medical Center in New York and about a sixth the number Norman Shumway had performed at Stanford University in California. Barnard had no dogs which had survived longer than ten days, unlike Kantrowitz and Shumway who had had dogs survive for more than a year.  With the availability of new breakthroughs introduced by several pioneers, also including Richard Lower at the Medical College of Virginia, several surgical teams were in a position to prepare for a human heart transplant. Barnard had a patient willing to undergo the procedure, but as with other surgeons, he needed a suitable donor.  During the Apartheid era in South Africa, non-white persons and citizens were not given equal opportunities in the medical professions. At Groote Schuur Hospital, Hamilton Naki was an informally taught surgeon. He started out as a gardener and cleaner. One day he was asked to help out with an experiment on a giraffe. From this modest beginning, Naki became principal lab technician and taught hundreds of surgeons, and assisted with Barnard's organ transplant program. Barnard said, "Hamilton Naki had better technical skills than I did. He was a better craftsman than me, especially when it came to stitching, and had very good hands in the theatre". A popular myth, propagated principally by a widely discredited documentary film called Hidden Heart and an erroneous newspaper article , maintains incorrectly that Naki was present during the Washkansky transplant. CANNOTANSWER

Have there been any other similar transplants or surgeries?
Following the first successful kidney transplant in 1953, in the United States, Barnard performed the second kidney transplant in South Africa in October 1967,
Barnard växte upp i Beaufort West, Kapprovinsen, Union of South Africa. Hans far, Adam Barnard, var minister i Nederländska reformerta kyrkan. En av hans fyra bröder, Abraham, var en "blå baby" som dog av ett hjärtproblem vid tre års ålder (Barnard skulle senare gissa att det var tetralogi av Fallot). Familjen upplevde också förlusten av en dotter som var dödfödd och som hade varit broderlig tvilling till Barnards äldre bror Johannes, som var tolv år äldre än Chris. Efter den första lyckade njurtransplantationen 1953 i USA genomförde Barnard den andra njurtransplantationen i Sydafrika i oktober 1967, den första gjordes i Johannesburg året innan. Den 23 januari 1964 utförde James Hardy vid University of Mississippi Medical Center i Jackson, Mississippi världens första hjärttransplantation och världens första hjärtxenotransplantation genom att transplantera hjärtat på en schimpans till en förtvivlad sjuk och döende man. Detta hjärta slog i patientens bröst i ungefär 60 till 90 minuter. Patienten, Boyd Rush, dog utan att någonsin återfå medvetandet. Barnard hade experimentellt transplanterat fyrtioåtta hjärtan till hundar, vilket var ungefär en femtedel det antal som Adrian Kantrowitz hade utfört på Maimonides Medical Center i New York och ungefär en sjättedel av antalet Norman Shumway hade uppträtt på Stanford University i Kalifornien. Barnard hade inga hundar som hade överlevt längre än tio dagar, till skillnad från Kantrowitz och Shumway som hade haft hundar överlevde i mer än ett år. I och med tillgången på nya genombrott som introducerats av flera pionjärer, bland annat Richard Lower vid Medical College of Virginia, var flera kirurgiska team i stånd att förbereda sig för en hjärttransplantation av människa. Barnard hade en patient som var villig att genomgå ingreppet, men som hos andra kirurger behövde han en lämplig donator. Under apartheid-eran i Sydafrika fick icke vita personer och medborgare inte lika möjligheter inom de medicinska yrkena. På Groote Schuur Hospital var Hamilton Naki en informellt lärd kirurg. Han började som trädgårdsmästare och städare. En dag blev han ombedd att hjälpa till med ett experiment på en giraff. Från denna blygsamma början blev Naki förste labbtekniker och undervisade hundratals kirurger, och assisterade med Barnards organtransplantationsprogram. Barnard sa: "Hamilton Naki hade bättre tekniska färdigheter än jag. Han var en bättre hantverkare än jag, i synnerhet när det gällde att sy, och hade mycket goda händer på teatern". En populär myt, som framför allt propageras av en mycket misskrediterad dokumentärfilm kallad Hidden Heart och en felaktig tidningsartikel, hävdar felaktigt att Naki var närvarande under Washkansky-transplantationen. CANNOTANSWER Har det förekommit några andra liknande transplantationer eller operationer?
Barnard grew up in Beaufort West, Cape Province, Union of South Africa. His father, Adam Barnard, was a minister of the Dutch Reformed Church. One of his four brothers, Abraham, was a "blue baby" who died of a heart problem at the age of three (Barnard would later guess that it was tetralogy of Fallot). The family also experienced the loss of a daughter who was stillborn and who had been the brotherly twin of Barnard's older brother John, who was twelve years older than Chris. After the first successful kidney transplant in 1953 in the United States, Barnard completed the second kidney transplant in South Africa in October 1967, the first being done in Johannesburg the previous year. On January 23, 1964, James Hardy of the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, Mississippi performed the world's first heart transplant and the world's first heart xenotransplant by transplanting the heart of a chimpanzee into a desperate sick and dying man. This heart hit the patient’s chest for about 60 to 90 minutes. The patient, Boyd Rush, died without ever regaining consciousness. Barnard had experimentally transplanted forty-eight hearts to dogs, which was about one-fifth the number that Adrian Kantrowitz had performed at Maimonides Medical Center in New York City and about one-sixth of the number of Norman Shumway had performed at Stanford University, California. Barnard had no dogs that had survived longer than ten days, unlike Kantrowitz and Shumway who had had dogs survived for more than a year. With the availability of new breakthroughs introduced by several pioneers, including Richard Lower of the Medical College of Virginia, several surgical teams were able to prepare for a human heart transplant. Barnard had a patient who was willing to undergo the procedure, but as with other surgeons, he needed a suitable donor. During the apartheid era in South Africa, non-white people and citizens were not given equal opportunities in the medical professions. At Groote Schuur Hospital, Hamilton Naki was an informal scholarly surgeon. He started out as a gardener and cleaner. One day he was asked to help with an experiment on a giraffe. From this modest beginning, Naki became the first lab technician and taught hundreds of surgeons, assisting with Barnard's organ transplant program. Barnard said, "Hamilton Naki had better technical skills than I did. He was a better craftsman than I was, especially when it came to sewing, and had very good hands in the theatre". A popular myth, primarily propagated by a highly discredited documentary film called Hidden Heart and an incorrect newspaper article, erroneously claims that Naki was present during the Washkansky transplant. CANNOTANSWER Have there been any other similar transplants or operations?
Efter den första lyckade njurtransplantationen 1953, i USA, genomförde Barnard den andra njurtransplantationen i Sydafrika i oktober 1967,
After the first successful kidney transplant in 1953, in the United States, Barnard performed the second kidney transplant in South Africa in October 1967,