1. Victor Chang's team had a high success rate in performing heart transplants, and he pioneered the development of an artificial heart valve.
22 Facts About Victor Chang
1. 2.
In 1991, Victor Chang was murdered by two young men in a failed extortion attempt.
3.
Victor Chang's legacy includes setting up the Victor Chang Foundation.
4.
Victor Chang was born in 1936 in Shanghai to Australian-born Chinese-British parents.
5.
Victor Chang grew up in Hong Kong, where he attended primary school in Kowloon Tong and spent two years in St Paul's College.
6.
On 7 April 1948, Victor Chang's mother died from breast cancer at the age of 33, prompting him to consider a career in medicine at the age of 12.
7.
Victor Chang completed his secondary education at Christian Brothers' High School in Lewisham.
8.
Victor Chang undertook his tertiary education at the University of Sydney, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Medical Science with First-Class Honours and a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery in 1962.
9.
Victor Chang became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1966 and trained in cardiothoracic surgery at the Royal Brompton Hospital.
10.
At St Vincent's Hospital, Victor Chang worked with surgeon Harry Windsor, who had performed Australia's first heart transplant in 1968.
11.
The advent of anti-rejection drugs in 1980 made heart transplants more feasible, and Victor Chang lobbied to raise funds to establish a heart transplant program at St Vincent's.
12.
On 8 April 1984, a team of doctors, led by Victor Chang, operated on 14-year-old Fiona Coote, who became Australia's youngest heart transplant patient.
13.
In 1986, Victor Chang was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia "in recognition of service to international relations between Australia and China and to medical science".
14.
Concerned about a shortage of organ donors, Victor Chang led the assembly of a team of scientists, engineers, and marketing specialists to develop an artificial heart and manufacture inexpensive heart valves.
15.
Victor Chang's body was found slumped in the gutter next to his Mercedes-Benz 500 SL in the Sydney suburb of Mosman.
16.
Victor Chang was sent back to Malaysia the next day.
17.
Victor Chang was cremated and his ashes were buried under a memorial plaque at Green Park, Darlinghurst, opposite St Vincent's Hospital.
18.
Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark officially opened the building and declared that Victor Chang "was an original thinker and saw the need for research and the development of heart assist devices and, not least, he is known for his legendary caring for his patients and their families".
19.
Victor Chang was the on-call emergency physician at St Anthony's Hospital in North Cheam, London, where Ann took herself after being taken unwell at a party.
20.
Victor Chang restored a 1950s MG TF, and enjoyed the opportunity to vigorously drive many cars, including his 1982 Citroen CX Prestige and several Porsches.
21.
Victor Chang had two younger siblings: sister Frances and brother Anthony.
22.
Victor Chang was not religious but was known to ask the hospital's nun, Sister Bernice, to say a prayer for his patients and was known for his compassion.