hamilton naki

Hamilton Naki was a part of the team that undertook the work's first heart transplant at Groote Schuur Hospital in 1967. His role in this undertaking was not recognised at the time, and he retired on a gardener's pension.

History

Naki was born in 1926 to a poor family in Ngcingane, a small village in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. He completed his primary school education there, then, aged 14, he hitchiked to Cape Town in search of work. He was employed by the University of Cape Town as a gardener, and for ten years maintained the tennis courts and university grounds.

Medical career

Naki was selected by Robert Goetz of the Medical Faculty to work in the clinical laboratories where he would help care for the laboratory animals. Naki became involved in surgical procedures in the laboratories. Despite his lack of formal education, his technique and capacity was recognised, and he received special permission to continue research in the laboratories. When an ambitious Christiaan Barnard returned from the United States to develop cardiac transplant techniques, Naki became his assistant. It was in this role that he contributed to the development of transplant techniques. However, he was never able to train as a doctor, and, in the apartheid era, was barred from the whites-only operating theatre.

Retirement

Naki had officially remained a gardener throughout his career, and, in 1991, retired on a gardener's pension. In 2003, at the age of 78 he received an honorary degree in Medicine from the University of Cape Town.

Hamilton Naki

History

Medical career

Retirement

See also