RIP Hamilton Naki

June 21, 2005 2:15 AM

RIP Hamilton Naki, the black surgeon working unrecognised behind the scenes at Christiaan Barnard's pioneering South African heart transplant.
posted by iffley (7 comments total)

Sad.

I never know whether to be apalled that Naki was so inured to the apartheid system that he didn't seem to mind having to work in secret for little pay, or awed that someone could happily work in those conditions, satisfied with his own skill at saving lives and teaching others.
posted by jack_mo at 4:34 AM on June 21, 2005

sorta an american version (made into a movie :)

cheers!
posted by kliuless at 4:34 AM on June 21, 2005

Fascinating story; thanks for sharing it with us.
posted by TedW at 5:34 AM on June 21, 2005

He was given an honoray Master of Medicine degree at a UCT graduation I attended a year or two ago.
posted by PenDevil at 5:46 AM on June 21, 2005

good story
posted by Thayer-P at 6:54 AM on June 21, 2005

I'm a little confused. A black South African retired surgeon lives next door to me, and this is not a township, nor is their house a shack (a bit bigger than mine, actually). Unless he was educated and practiced elsewhere, I suppose. I've never met him, he doesn't get out much. I have only met his wife, a charming woman with a pleasant voice.
posted by Goofyy at 9:34 AM on June 21, 2005

Thanks for posting this, iffley.
posted by philfromhavelock at 1:07 PM on June 21, 2005