Every second counts : the race to transplant the first human heart

The dramatic race to transplant the first human heart spanned two years, three continents and five cities against a backdrop of searing tension, scientific brilliance, ethical controversy, racial strife and emotional turmoil. It culminated in a terrifying moment in the early hours of 3 December 1967 when, in a cramped operating theatre in a Cape Town hospital, Professor Chris Barnard stared into an empty cavity from which he had just removed a heart.

He knew that he had only minutes left to make history and save the life of a 55-year-old man by filling the gaping hole in his chest with a heart which had just been beating inside a 25-year-old woman.

EVERY SECOND COUNTS is the story of Chris Barnard and his gripping race against four extraordinary men to conquer the greatest of medical challenges.

It is also a deeply personal biography of a Casanova surgeon with film-star looks, whose tortured private life was played out on the most public of stages.