CHENNAI: Renowned Indian heart surgeon Dr K M Cherian, known for performing several groundbreaking cardiac surgeries, including India’s first successful coronary artery bypass surgery in 1975, passed away late on Saturday at the age of 82.
Cherian was also credited with performing the first heart transplant following the legalization of brain death, as well as India’s first heart-lung transplant and pediatric heart transplant.
Family sources said Cherian, who was in Bangalore attending a wedding, collapsed late in the evening. “We rushed him to Manipal Hospitals, where he was declared dead at 11.55pm,” said his daughter, Sandhya Cherian.
After serving at the Railway Hospital in Chennai, Cherian worked at several private hospitals, including Vijaya Hospital and Madras Medical Mission, before founding Frontier Lifeline and the Dr. Cherian Heart Foundation.
A close associate of the late South African heart surgeon Christiaan Barnard, who performed the world’s first human-to-human heart transplant, Cherian also served as an honorary surgeon to the President of India from 1990 to 1993.
He was the recipient of numerous awards, including the Padma Shri and the Harvard Medical Excellence Award in 2005.