In 1983, Tom Hall was the 45th patient in the world to receive a lung transplant, but the first ever to survive more than a few days or weeks afterward. The 58-year-old lived more than six years after receiving the organ.
Grateful family members were reunited with the surgeon last week to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the historic operation in Toronto.
“Most people don’t recognize that Canada is No. 1 in some things and this [lung transplants] is one of them,” Dr. Shaf Keshavjee, director of the lung transplant program, said in an interview.
(WATCH the video below or READ the story from the CBC)