The patient and his twin are soon able to go back to work. They both live for a further six years.
A further 35 transplants are carried out over the next eight years at the Royal Infirmary. New anti-rejection drugs help survival – some patients on the point of death living full lives for 30 years and more.
In 1968 a new unit opens at the Western General in Edinburgh – the world’s first custom-built transplantation centre.
Transplantation later extends to liver and hearts (in Edinburgh and Glasgow) and lungs at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle.
As transplant programmes grow, the biggest problem remains a shortage of donor organs.