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Hamilton Naki seemed to grasp Jesus’ teaching. Dr. Christiaan N. Barnard described Hamilton
Naki as “one of the great researchers of all time in the field of heart transplants.” This is a fascinating
accolade for one who dropped out of school when he was 14 years old and, even in his adulthood,
never had formal medical training.
Mr. Naki was a man who was black. He lived in apartheid South Africa. His employment at
the University of Cape Town began as a gardener. When his job changed to include cleaning the cages
of laboratory animals and to anesthetize them, Naki was able to observe surgeries and, eventually, to
perform surgical techniques. Surgeries on dogs, rabbits, pigs and a giraffe enabled him to practice
coronary bypasses and transplants of hearts and livers.
Hamilton Naki never had the opportunity to complete an education or attend medical school.
He was rejected. His approach to science was, nevertheless, one of curiosity as to how life could be
improved. He honed skills he would never be able to use, officially. He persisted in bringing peace to
the laboratory. He brought well-being to his work.
When the parents of Denise Darvall, a white woman who was brain-dead, gave permission for
her heart to be given to Louis Washansky, Hamilton Naki was fully prepared to assist with the first heart
transplant on December 3, 1967. He was on the team that removed Ms. Darvall’s heart.
“I was called one of the backroom boys,” he said, with little bitterness. “They put the white
people out front. If people published pictures of me, they would have gone to jail.”
(“Hamilton Naki, 78, Self-Taught Surgeon, Dies,” by Margalit Fox, The New York Times, 6/11/2005,
B7)
Hamilton Naki died on the 29th of May, with his well-being fully in place. He lived and died in
peace. May we, in our discipleship, be so bold to extend from our lives, from our very being, peace.
Amen.
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