NBC – Reports have recently surfaced that NBC news anchor, Brian Williams, claimed to have performed the first heart transplant in 1967. In a broadcast in 2001 about then Vice President Dick Cheney’s heart, he claimed, “Not only was I there during the first heart transplantation, I performed it.”
Christiaan Barnard‘s estate has sued the NBC and the nightly news anchor for false claims. They wish to set the record straight that Dr. Barnard was the actual surgeon and that Brian Williams does not have a medical degree.
“Well truth-be-told I didn’t actually perform the operation,” Brian Williams clarified Tuesday amid controversy. “I was first assistant to Dr. Barnard.”
When this claim was also challenged Brian Williams further clarified. “Okay, I wasn’t actually first assistant, I just came up with the whole idea, wrote it all down, and gave step by step instructions to Christiaan.”
This final claim could not be verified but some sources are skeptical and think the famous photo shown above was in fact photoshopped.
“I don’t think they had color photography in 1967,” photo expert Jon Rassmusen told GomerBlog. “Plus wouldn’t he have blood all over his hands?”
