05: End of an Era | The Courage to Fail

Duration: 48'59''

Synopsis

Christiaan Barnard became the most famous surgeon in the world by successfully transplanting a human heart. Yet so disastrous were the results of this new operation, that within two years it had been virtually abandoned.

Further Information

More clips from The Courage to Fail

01: Nerves of Steel | The Courage to Fail

01: Nerves of Steel | The Courage to Fail

BBC Two | 1987 | 48'04''

1830 - a smoke-filled room, crowded with spectators. Their eyes are fixed on a man, restrained on a wooden table, with a leg ravage...

02: Into the Heart | The Courage to Fail

02: Into the Heart | The Courage to Fail

BBC Two | 1987 | 50'34''

Crippled children, blue and breathless with congenital heart disease, were sent home to die. Operating on the inside of the heart wa...

03: Doers Not Thinkers | The Courage to Fail

03: Doers Not Thinkers | The Courage to Fail

BBC Two | 1987 | 47'21''

By the early 1970s, surgeons were riding the crest of a wave. But controversy and uncertainty surrounded one of the commonest op...

04: A Gift of Life | The Courage to Fail

04: A Gift of Life | The Courage to Fail

BBC Two | 1987 | 51'20''

Richard Herrick, a young man dying of kidney disease, is about to make medical history. Surgeons will save his life by transplanting...

01: Nerves of Steel | The Courage to Fail

01: Nerves of Steel | The Courage to Fail

BBC Two | 1987 | 48'04''

1830 - a smoke-filled room, crowded with spectators. Their eyes are fixed on a man, restrained on a wooden table, with a leg ravage...

02: Into the Heart | The Courage to Fail

02: Into the Heart | The Courage to Fail

BBC Two | 1987 | 50'34''

Crippled children, blue and breathless with congenital heart disease, were sent home to die. Operating on the inside of the heart wa...

03: Doers Not Thinkers | The Courage to Fail

03: Doers Not Thinkers | The Courage to Fail

BBC Two | 1987 | 47'21''

By the early 1970s, surgeons were riding the crest of a wave. But controversy and uncertainty surrounded one of the commonest op...

04: A Gift of Life | The Courage to Fail

04: A Gift of Life | The Courage to Fail

BBC Two | 1987 | 51'20''

Richard Herrick, a young man dying of kidney disease, is about to make medical history. Surgeons will save his life by transplanting...

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