Testimony to human endurance
”This photo spread all over the world and did not leave anyone indifferent. This is 1987 the city of Zabsha in Poland.
The photograph captures the moment after a 23-hour heart transplant operation. Just imagine 23 hours in the strongest tension of the arms, legs, and the whole body, because a small mistake can cost the patient’s life. And at that time there was no high-precision equipment that controlled the work of doctors. The operation was performed by a highly qualified specialist, Polish cardiac surgeon Zbigniew Religa.
In the photo, he sits very tired and looks at the indicators – how the patient’s new heart works. Even a day after the start of the operation, he feels a huge responsibility for himself. If you look closely, his tired assistant is sleeping in the far right corner. The photo so conveys what is happening in the operating room that it seems that you were there. The man lying on the operating table is the teacher Tadeusz Zhitkevich.
In 1987, he had acute heart failure. By that time, he had already experienced three heart attacks. He was already about 60 years old and all the doctors to whom he turned for help approved that at this age one could not withstand such a complex operation. But Zhutkevich could no longer walk and therefore wrote to Dr. Religa. Only three phrases: “I am a teacher. I have a sick heart. I’m asking for help.” And the doctor agreed to help him. “Please come,” the doctor answered him. The operation was successful.
The teacher lived another 30 years after her and left this world of old age at 91.”