Among the team of doctors present throughout the whole of the process it was South African-born surgeon Donald Ross who was to take lead of the team that embarked on this medical mission which took seven hours in all to complete. The patient at the time was performed on an unnamed 45-year-old man.

The operation would not be able to ahead without a heart donor – but fortunately for the 45 year old unknown a donor was found for the heart transplant to take place. Sadly to say the donor was Patrick Ryan, a 26-year-old labourer who after his death was transferred from King's College Hospital where his heart was removed immediately – so that the saving of another life could be put into action.

Even though to complete the operation took seven hours Doctor Ross stated that the actual process lasted two hours with the assistance of the entire surgical team. This transplant in Britain is the tenth heart transplant to be undertaken in the world since Dr Christian Barnard carried out the first one in Cape Town, South Africa.

Unfortunately Frederick West - as we now know him by name - who received the donor heart died 46 days after. This was due to infection of which the doctors had been treating for nine days after the operation.

A series of drugs was administered to encourage the acceptance of the new heart but sadly this lowered his resistance to infection and ultimately led to his death. Before Mr West died he had also been suffering from kidney complications.

British surgeons adopted a cautious approach to heart surgery because of this sad happening and only performed six more transplants in the UK over the next ten years.

It wasn't up until the 1980s that heart transplants was to become more common. About 300 heart transplant operations take place every year in the UK.