Patient of first ever pig heart transplant dies 2 months after successful surgery

David Bennett, 57, died on Tuesday after receiving a pig heart in January to replace his own failing one.

According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, where Bennett received the transplant on January 7

and had been recovering since, it is not yet clear what caused Bennett’s death.

He began to deteriorate in recent days, and his death was announced by the hospital on Wednesday.

Bennett was the first person to receive an animal organ that had been genetically modified to prevent rejection in humans.

According to hospital spokeswoman Deborah Kotz, there was no obvious cause of death at the time of his death,

and researchers intend to conduct a thorough review of his death and publish the findings in a peer-reviewed journal.