CBS News | Cheney Operation Underscores Heart Transplant Issues WBUR Heart transplantation has come a long way since Christiaan Barnard stitched the heart of a young woman into the chest of a middle-aged man in South Africa in 1967. That transplant recipient died 18 days later. Today, recipients can expect to get a ... Dick Cheney Surgery: 7 Essential Facts about Heart Transplants Analysis: Cheney waited longer than average for heart transplant Cheney Transplant Turns Focus to Age and HF Treatments |