1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,040 Speaker 1: Hey everyone. Technically you're getting two days in History today 2 00:00:03,120 --> 00:00:05,680 Speaker 1: because we were running two episodes from the History Vault. 3 00:00:05,840 --> 00:00:08,879 Speaker 1: You'll also here too, hosts me and Tracy V. Wilson. 4 00:00:09,200 --> 00:00:13,119 Speaker 1: Hope you enjoy Welcome to this Day in History Class 5 00:00:13,160 --> 00:00:15,600 Speaker 1: from how Stuff Works dot Com and from the desk 6 00:00:15,640 --> 00:00:17,799 Speaker 1: of Stuff you Missed in History Class. It's the show 7 00:00:17,800 --> 00:00:20,120 Speaker 1: where we explore the past, one day at a time 8 00:00:20,200 --> 00:00:27,120 Speaker 1: with a quick look at what happened today in history. Hi, 9 00:00:27,320 --> 00:00:29,880 Speaker 1: this is Holly Fry. I am sitting in for Tracy V. 10 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:33,960 Speaker 1: Wilson this week. It's December, and on this day in 11 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:38,480 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty four, the first successful living donor kidney transplantation 12 00:00:38,600 --> 00:00:42,400 Speaker 1: was completed. Twenty three year old Richard Herrick, freshly discharged 13 00:00:42,440 --> 00:00:46,080 Speaker 1: from the Coast Guard, was diagnosed with serious kidney inflammation 14 00:00:46,159 --> 00:00:51,120 Speaker 1: called chronic nephritis on October nineteen fifty four. He was 15 00:00:51,159 --> 00:00:54,440 Speaker 1: referred to Peter Bent Brigham Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 16 00:00:54,960 --> 00:00:57,920 Speaker 1: where a team led by surgeon and Professor Joseph Murray 17 00:00:57,960 --> 00:01:00,760 Speaker 1: and Dr John Merrill had been working on the idea 18 00:01:00,840 --> 00:01:05,119 Speaker 1: of kidney transplants. Medically, Richard Herrick was a very good 19 00:01:05,160 --> 00:01:08,800 Speaker 1: candidate for transplant because he had an identical twin brother 20 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:13,240 Speaker 1: who had two healthy kidneys. Behaviorally, it was a slightly 21 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:17,440 Speaker 1: different story. Richard was a difficult patient. There was concerned 22 00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:19,280 Speaker 1: that he might not be the right fit for this 23 00:01:19,360 --> 00:01:23,200 Speaker 1: kind of surgery. But a psychiatrist named Dr. E. M. 24 00:01:23,480 --> 00:01:27,240 Speaker 1: Kudaruskus evaluated Richard's behavior and he actually came to the 25 00:01:27,280 --> 00:01:31,960 Speaker 1: conclusion that the patient was exhibiting signs of toxic psychosis. Basically, 26 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:35,040 Speaker 1: Richard's infection and the toxic agents in his body were 27 00:01:35,040 --> 00:01:39,000 Speaker 1: causing all of that bad behavior. So they decided that 28 00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:41,679 Speaker 1: they would go forward, and the team also had to 29 00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:45,360 Speaker 1: be very sensitive to the psychological ramifications of asking a 30 00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:49,120 Speaker 1: healthy man his brother to give up one of his kidneys. 31 00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:52,600 Speaker 1: The chief of psychiatry at the hospital was very aware 32 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:55,080 Speaker 1: that there was an ethical issue in the mix as well, 33 00:01:55,640 --> 00:01:58,040 Speaker 1: and he wrote in the patient record quote, I think 34 00:01:58,080 --> 00:02:00,280 Speaker 1: we have to be careful not to be too much 35 00:02:00,280 --> 00:02:03,440 Speaker 1: swayed by our eagerness to carry out a kidney transplant 36 00:02:03,480 --> 00:02:06,640 Speaker 1: successfully for the first time, i e. To succeed in 37 00:02:06,760 --> 00:02:10,680 Speaker 1: having it take permanently. It seems to me furthermore that 38 00:02:10,760 --> 00:02:15,000 Speaker 1: the potential recipient's mental state is a subsidiary issue. The 39 00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:18,640 Speaker 1: important question would seem to be whether we as physicians 40 00:02:19,040 --> 00:02:21,280 Speaker 1: have the right to put the healthy twin under the 41 00:02:21,320 --> 00:02:24,320 Speaker 1: pressure of being asked whether he is willing to make 42 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:27,400 Speaker 1: this sacrifice. I do not feel that we have this 43 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:30,280 Speaker 1: right in view of the potential danger to the healthy twin, 44 00:02:30,760 --> 00:02:33,720 Speaker 1: as well as the uncertainty of the outcome for this patient. 45 00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:38,320 Speaker 1: But even as this issue of ethics was being really 46 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:43,840 Speaker 1: carefully and thoughtfully examined during November of nine, time was 47 00:02:43,919 --> 00:02:48,480 Speaker 1: kind of ussuring things along because Richard's health was rapidly declining, 48 00:02:49,120 --> 00:02:51,320 Speaker 1: and so the longer the medical team wrestled with their 49 00:02:51,360 --> 00:02:54,680 Speaker 1: ideology and the philosophy behind asking a healthy man to 50 00:02:54,720 --> 00:02:57,120 Speaker 1: give up part of his body to save his brother, 51 00:02:57,880 --> 00:03:02,040 Speaker 1: the worst Richard's chances got. Ronald, after thinking it through, 52 00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:05,160 Speaker 1: eventually decided that he was in fact willing to donate 53 00:03:05,200 --> 00:03:08,160 Speaker 1: one of his kidneys to his brother, and everything seemed 54 00:03:08,160 --> 00:03:10,359 Speaker 1: to be going along just fine. But at the last minute, 55 00:03:10,440 --> 00:03:12,520 Speaker 1: it was actually Richard who tried to put a stop 56 00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:15,760 Speaker 1: to things. The night before the surgery was to take place, 57 00:03:15,840 --> 00:03:18,280 Speaker 1: he sent a note to his brother telling him to 58 00:03:18,320 --> 00:03:21,280 Speaker 1: go home, but Ronald replied with a note of his 59 00:03:21,360 --> 00:03:24,320 Speaker 1: own and said simply I am here and I am 60 00:03:24,360 --> 00:03:27,560 Speaker 1: going to stay. Before the operation with the Herrick Brothers, 61 00:03:27,560 --> 00:03:30,040 Speaker 1: there was a test run of the entire procedure on 62 00:03:30,080 --> 00:03:33,799 Speaker 1: December twenty on a fresh canaver, and once this rehearsal 63 00:03:33,880 --> 00:03:38,240 Speaker 1: was completed, the live procedure was scheduled. So on December 64 00:03:39,200 --> 00:03:42,960 Speaker 1: eight fift am, the operation began. The donor team was 65 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:45,800 Speaker 1: in one operating room and the recipient team was in 66 00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:50,480 Speaker 1: the adjacent operating room. The Brigham kidney transplant team was 67 00:03:50,520 --> 00:03:54,000 Speaker 1: comprised of doctor's John P. Merrill, who was head of nephrology, 68 00:03:54,200 --> 00:03:59,160 Speaker 1: j Hartwell Harrison, Chief of Urology, Gustav Dammon, pathologist in chief, 69 00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:03,720 Speaker 1: and Joseph Murray. The severed, healthy kidney was transferred from 70 00:04:03,720 --> 00:04:06,800 Speaker 1: the donor operating room to the recipient operating room at 71 00:04:06,880 --> 00:04:10,520 Speaker 1: nine thirty five am. The operation was completed at eleven 72 00:04:10,640 --> 00:04:14,880 Speaker 1: fifteen as clamps were removed and blood flow was restored 73 00:04:14,920 --> 00:04:18,919 Speaker 1: to the transplanted organ, and the urinary flow began immediately. 74 00:04:19,839 --> 00:04:24,720 Speaker 1: It is considered the first successful organ transplant. Richard lived 75 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:27,559 Speaker 1: for eight years after this surgery, and in that time 76 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:29,520 Speaker 1: he actually got married to one of the nurses that 77 00:04:29,560 --> 00:04:32,000 Speaker 1: he met in the recovery room, and the couple had 78 00:04:32,040 --> 00:04:36,279 Speaker 1: two children. His brother, Ronald lived the age of seventy nine. 79 00:04:36,360 --> 00:04:40,480 Speaker 1: He died in fifty six years after donating his kidney 80 00:04:40,520 --> 00:04:44,600 Speaker 1: to his brother and making history in the process. Joseph E. 81 00:04:44,720 --> 00:04:47,839 Speaker 1: Murray was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 82 00:04:47,839 --> 00:04:51,839 Speaker 1: in nineteen He died in late twelve at the age 83 00:04:51,839 --> 00:04:56,719 Speaker 1: of ninety three. Today, more than thirty thousand organ transplants 84 00:04:56,720 --> 00:04:59,640 Speaker 1: are performed in the United States each year, and more 85 00:04:59,680 --> 00:05:03,679 Speaker 1: than off of those are kidney transplants. Thanks for today's 86 00:05:03,680 --> 00:05:06,919 Speaker 1: episode goes to eve's Jeff Cote who worked on research 87 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:09,720 Speaker 1: for this Casey Peg Grimm and Chandler Mains for their 88 00:05:09,760 --> 00:05:12,960 Speaker 1: work on the audio for the episode. And you should 89 00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:15,280 Speaker 1: subscribe to This Day in History Class, which you can 90 00:05:15,320 --> 00:05:18,599 Speaker 1: do on Apple Podcast, the I Heart Radio app, or 91 00:05:18,640 --> 00:05:22,080 Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcasts. Tomorrow, we're going to delve 92 00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:33,440 Speaker 1: into the story behind one of the standard songs of Christmas. Hey, y'all, 93 00:05:33,480 --> 00:05:36,479 Speaker 1: I'm Eves and welcome to This Day in History Class, 94 00:05:36,760 --> 00:05:39,719 Speaker 1: where we uncover a new layer of history every day. 95 00:05:47,520 --> 00:05:53,200 Speaker 1: The day was December two, seventy two days after Euroguaine 96 00:05:53,240 --> 00:05:56,240 Speaker 1: Air Force Flight five seventy one crashed into the Andies. 97 00:05:56,600 --> 00:06:01,839 Speaker 1: The final survivors were rescued. On October twelfth, nineteen seventy two, 98 00:06:02,120 --> 00:06:07,000 Speaker 1: a twin turboprop fair Child f H seven left Carrasco 99 00:06:07,040 --> 00:06:10,840 Speaker 1: International Airport in monte Video and was headed to Santiago. 100 00:06:11,800 --> 00:06:14,680 Speaker 1: There were forty passengers and five crew members on the flight, 101 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:18,000 Speaker 1: which was carrying a Uruguayan rugby team that was said 102 00:06:18,040 --> 00:06:22,240 Speaker 1: to play a match in the Chilean capital. Julio Ferradas 103 00:06:22,360 --> 00:06:25,480 Speaker 1: was the commander on the flight and Dante Etre Lagrada 104 00:06:25,640 --> 00:06:28,440 Speaker 1: was the co pilot. The trip would take them over 105 00:06:28,480 --> 00:06:31,920 Speaker 1: the Andes Mountains, which could be a difficult area to traverse, 106 00:06:32,520 --> 00:06:35,080 Speaker 1: and that day the weather was pour over the Andes, 107 00:06:35,440 --> 00:06:38,839 Speaker 1: so the flight had to stop in Mendoza, Argentina. The 108 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:41,440 Speaker 1: plane left Mendoza the next day, though the weather was 109 00:06:41,480 --> 00:06:45,880 Speaker 1: still not ideal. Ferradras had experienced flying over the Andes, 110 00:06:46,200 --> 00:06:49,000 Speaker 1: but the fair Child plane could only ascend so high. 111 00:06:50,040 --> 00:06:52,280 Speaker 1: The flight had to go over a pass with lower 112 00:06:52,320 --> 00:06:57,240 Speaker 1: peaks called the Planchon Pass. Co pilot Lagrada was flying 113 00:06:57,279 --> 00:07:01,359 Speaker 1: the plane as Colonel Ferraras trained him. Lagur Dada directed 114 00:07:01,360 --> 00:07:03,839 Speaker 1: the plane toward my lad Way on the way to 115 00:07:03,880 --> 00:07:07,080 Speaker 1: plant and Pass, but by the time the flight had 116 00:07:07,120 --> 00:07:11,960 Speaker 1: reached the pass, cloud cover had not lifted. At m 117 00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:15,480 Speaker 1: lag Dada radio the Santiago Airport and told them he 118 00:07:15,520 --> 00:07:18,200 Speaker 1: was flying over Planton and would be at the Chillan 119 00:07:18,280 --> 00:07:22,280 Speaker 1: town Curico soon. Minutes later, they said they had reached 120 00:07:22,280 --> 00:07:26,760 Speaker 1: Currico and air traffic control authorized them to descend. The 121 00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:29,640 Speaker 1: plane descended, but as it went into the clouds, it 122 00:07:29,760 --> 00:07:33,200 Speaker 1: started shaking and soon hit a strong downward air current. 123 00:07:33,920 --> 00:07:37,200 Speaker 1: The plane dropped thousands of feet and soon the plane 124 00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:40,440 Speaker 1: crashed into the mountain, ripping off a wing and separating 125 00:07:40,440 --> 00:07:43,040 Speaker 1: the tail and a rear portion of the fuselage from 126 00:07:43,040 --> 00:07:48,160 Speaker 1: the plane. Several passengers died in the collision. Some people 127 00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:52,120 Speaker 1: who survived and crash landed began helping passengers who were hurt. 128 00:07:52,680 --> 00:07:57,520 Speaker 1: Others had lost consciousness. Over the next several days, more 129 00:07:57,560 --> 00:08:01,560 Speaker 1: passengers died. Search and rescue teams were sent out to 130 00:08:01,600 --> 00:08:04,560 Speaker 1: the Andies not long after the plane went missing, but 131 00:08:04,720 --> 00:08:08,160 Speaker 1: rescuers did not know exactly where the plane crashed, and 132 00:08:08,280 --> 00:08:10,640 Speaker 1: it was hard to see the downed plane in the snow. 133 00:08:11,880 --> 00:08:15,240 Speaker 1: Eight days after it began, the official search was called off. 134 00:08:16,400 --> 00:08:19,320 Speaker 1: The passengers managed to find a radio and discovered that 135 00:08:19,360 --> 00:08:23,680 Speaker 1: the search had ended. They were discouraged, but passenger Gustavo 136 00:08:23,800 --> 00:08:26,240 Speaker 1: Nikolich told people that they would make it out on 137 00:08:26,280 --> 00:08:29,720 Speaker 1: their own. They did what they could to survive. They 138 00:08:29,840 --> 00:08:32,679 Speaker 1: used the fuselage as a shelter, and they made sun 139 00:08:32,720 --> 00:08:37,600 Speaker 1: advisors from the plane into sunglasses to prevent snowblindness. All 140 00:08:37,640 --> 00:08:42,079 Speaker 1: the while, more passengers died. Food was scarce, so the 141 00:08:42,160 --> 00:08:45,240 Speaker 1: survivors decided to begin eating the dead to stay alive, 142 00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:50,440 Speaker 1: and on October twenty nine, tragedy struck again when an 143 00:08:50,480 --> 00:08:54,960 Speaker 1: avalanche buried the fuselage and killed more people. So the 144 00:08:55,000 --> 00:08:57,600 Speaker 1: survivors decided they would hike out of the Andes to 145 00:08:57,640 --> 00:09:02,679 Speaker 1: search for help. Non dope Rando and Roberto Carnessa eventually 146 00:09:02,760 --> 00:09:06,520 Speaker 1: ran into a few men, one of whom was Serhillo Catalan. 147 00:09:07,679 --> 00:09:11,320 Speaker 1: Catalan gave them food and then told officials that survivors 148 00:09:11,360 --> 00:09:14,000 Speaker 1: were still in the mountains. The two of them were 149 00:09:14,040 --> 00:09:18,240 Speaker 1: rescued by helicopter on December twenty one, and by all 150 00:09:18,280 --> 00:09:23,880 Speaker 1: the survivors were rescued. Sixteen people survived the disaster. The 151 00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:26,080 Speaker 1: press jumped on the story of the crash, and in 152 00:09:26,120 --> 00:09:30,760 Speaker 1: the following years, books, films, and TV shows recounted the disaster. 153 00:09:32,120 --> 00:09:34,840 Speaker 1: I'm Eve Steffcote and hopefully you know a little more 154 00:09:34,880 --> 00:09:38,520 Speaker 1: about history today than you did yesterday. If you've seen 155 00:09:38,600 --> 00:09:41,600 Speaker 1: any good history means lately, you can send them to 156 00:09:41,679 --> 00:09:47,000 Speaker 1: us on social media at t D I h C Podcast, 157 00:09:47,720 --> 00:09:49,960 Speaker 1: or if you are so inclined, you can send us 158 00:09:49,960 --> 00:09:55,160 Speaker 1: a message at this day at I heart media dot com. 159 00:09:55,160 --> 00:09:58,199 Speaker 1: Thanks again for listening. We'll see the same place tomorrow. 160 00:10:00,559 --> 00:10:02,600 Speaker 1: The more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the i 161 00:10:02,640 --> 00:10:05,280 Speaker 1: heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 162 00:10:05,320 --> 00:10:06,120 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.