Victor Chang | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) Chang in 1987 | |||||||||||
| Born | Chang Yam Him (1936-11-21)21 November 1936 Shanghai, China | ||||||||||
| Died | 4 July 1991(1991-07-04) (aged 54) Sydney, Australia | ||||||||||
| Cause of death | Murder (ballistic trauma) | ||||||||||
| Other names | Victor Peter Chang | ||||||||||
| Education | University of Sydney | ||||||||||
| Years active | 1960–1991 | ||||||||||
| Known for | Pioneer of heart transplantation | ||||||||||
| Medical career | |||||||||||
| Profession | Heart surgeon | ||||||||||
| Institutions | St Vincent's Hospital | ||||||||||
| Sub-specialties | Cardiothoracic surgery Heart transplant | ||||||||||
| Research | Development of anartificial heart valve with the formation of Pacific Biomedical Enterprises in Singapore. | ||||||||||
| Awards | Companion of the Order of Australia | ||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 張任謙 | ||||||||||
| Hanyu Pinyin | Zhāng Rènqiān | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Victor Peter ChangAC (bornChang Yam Him; 21 November 1936 – 4 July 1991) was a Chinese-born Australiancardiac surgeon and a pioneer of modernheart transplantation in Australia.
His murder in 1991 stunned Australia and is considered one of the most notorious in the country's history.[1][2] Chang was given astate funeral, and in 1999 he was voted Australian of the Century at thePeople's Choice Awards.[3][4][5]
After completing his medical studies at theUniversity of Sydney and working inSt Vincent's Hospital, he trained in the United Kingdom and the United States as a surgeon before returning to Australia. At St Vincent's Hospital, he helped establish the National Cardiac Transplant Unit, the country's leading centre for heart and lung transplants. Chang's team had a high success rate in performing heart transplants, and he pioneered the development of anartificial heart valve.[6] In 1986, he was appointed aCompanion of the Order of Australia for his "service to international relations between Australia and China and to medical science".[3]
In 1991, Chang was murdered by two young men in a failedextortion attempt.[3] His legacy includes setting up the Victor Chang Foundation. Additionally, after his death, theVictor Chang Cardiac Research Institute was created, and the Dr. Victor Chang Lowy Packer Building at St Vincent's Hospital was established.
Chang was born in 1936 in Shanghai to Australian-born Chinese-British parents. He grew up inHong Kong, where he attended primary school inKowloon Tong and spent two years inSt. Paul's College.[7] On 7 April 1948, 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.[8]
Chang's father Aubrey sent him and his younger sister to Sydney in 1951 to stay with extended family. He attended Belmore Boys' High School inBelmore. He completed his secondary education atChristian Brothers' High School inLewisham. He undertook his tertiary education at theUniversity of Sydney, where he graduated with aBachelor of Medical Science with First-Class Honours and aBachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery in 1962.[9]
After completing his medical education, Changinterned atSt Vincent's Hospital under cardiac surgeon Mark Shanahan, who sent him to London to train with British surgeon Aubrey York Mason.[10]
Chang became aFellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1966 and trained incardiothoracic surgery at theRoyal Brompton Hospital.[9] In London, he met and married his wife Ann (née Simmons).[9][11]
Chang spent two years in the United States at theMayo Clinic and becamechief resident. In 1972, he returned to St Vincent's Hospital, where he was a consultant cardiothoracic surgeon and was appointed Fellow of theRoyal Australasian College of Surgeons in 1973 andFellow of the American College of Surgeons in 1975.[9]
At St. Vincent's Hospital, Chang worked with surgeonHarry Windsor, who had performed Australia's first heart transplant in 1968.[10] The advent ofanti-rejection drugs in 1980 made heart transplants more feasible, and Chang lobbied to raise funds to establish a heart transplant program at St. Vincent's. On 8 April 1984, a team of doctors, led by Chang, operated on 14-year-oldFiona Coote, who became Australia's youngest heart transplant patient.[12][13]
Between 1984 and 1990, Chang's unit performed over 197 heart transplants and 14heart–lung transplants. The unit had a high rate of success, with 90% of those receiving transplants from the unit surviving beyond the first year. In 1986, Victor Chang was appointed a Companion of theOrder of Australia (AC) "in recognition of service to international relations between Australia and China and to medical science".[14]
Concerned about a shortage of organ donors, Chang led the assembly of a team of scientists, engineers, and marketing specialists to develop an artificial heart and manufacture inexpensiveheart valves.[15] In 1980, he metFrank Tamru, who acted as a marketing and sales specialist, while he worked forShiley Laboratories in Singapore. Together with engineers Richard Martin and Brij Gupta, Chang and Tamru founded Pacific Biomedical Enterprises Ltd., which is headquartered in Singapore and set up facilities to develop mechanical and tissue heart valves, called St. Vincent's Heart Valves, inGuangzhou and Sydney. The valves were widely used throughout Asia.[15]
On the morning of 4 July 1991, Chang was shot twice in the head in a failedextortion attempt.[16][17] His body was found slumped in the gutter next to hisMercedes-Benz 500 SL in the Sydney suburb ofMosman.[3][18] Two Malaysian men, Chew Seng (Ah Sung) Liew and Choon Tee (Phillip) Lim,[19] picked Chang at random from a magazine featuring Asians who had "made it good" in Australia.[3] They ran theirToyota Corolla into Chang's vehicle, forcing him to pull over.[3] After getting into an argument with Chang, who refused to give them money, Liew fired the fatal shots.[16] The first shot entered near the right cheek and exited below the right ear while the fatal second, fired from point-blank range, entered the right temple and passed through the brain. Police investigators initially suspected the involvement ofTriad syndicates but later concluded the killing was an amateur act.[17][20]
Liew pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 26 years in prison with anon-parole period of 20 years. Lim, who pleaded not guilty and claimed he did not know Liew had a firearm, received a sentence of 18 to 24 years. Another man, Stanley Ng, abandoned the extortion plan a day before the murder. He had unsuccessfully tried detaining Chang twice to force him to give $3 million. Ng was grantedimmunity for his evidence. The prosecution alleged the plan had been to abduct Chang, tie him up with his family at his home inClontarf, and threaten to hang them to coerce Chang into withdrawing money from the bank. In his ruling, Supreme Court Judge John Slattery stated, "It was an absurd, improbable plan, always doomed to failure".[16]
On 26 October 2009, Lim was granted parole. Following a public outcry and objection by the New South WalesCorrective Services Minister,John Robertson, his release was put on hold, pending another parole hearing.[21] TheNew South Wales Supreme Court ruled that the Parole Authority lacked the power to rescind their previous parole decision.[22] Lim was freed fromParramatta Correctional Centre on 1 March 2010 into the custody of immigration officers waiting outside. He was to be deported back toKuala Lumpur on 2 March, but the flight was canceled for technical reasons.[23] He was flown out of Australia on 3 March.[24]
After 21 years in prison, Liew was granted parole. In his parole hearing, he made a broad apology for the crime and stated that he believed that his long term in prison had had a good effect.[25] There was a small objection fromNSW Attorney-GeneralGreg Smith; however, this was retracted, and Liew was released from prison on 12 October 2012 and was met by immigration officers. He was sent back to Malaysia the next day.[26]
Chang was given a state funeral.[3] He was cremated and his ashes were buried under a memorial plaque at Green Park, Darlinghurst, opposite St Vincent's Hospital.[8][27] His manner of death is described in the Dr. Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute website as a "tragic circumstance".[4]
In April 2012, Australia Post released a commemorative postcard and postage stamp featuring a portrait of Dr Chang.[28]
.jpg)
In 1984, Chang founded the Victor Chang Foundation to grant funds in two areas he felt passionate about: education and innovation in cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery. The foundation continues today under the leadership of his daughter Vanessa Chang.
On 15 February 1994, the Dr. Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, a body intended to focus on researching "the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of heart muscle diseases,"[29] was launched by Prime MinisterPaul Keating withKerry Packer as its patron.[30] The Dr. Victor Chang Science Labs inChristian Brothers' High School are named after him.[31]
In 1999, Prime MinisterJohn Howard announced Chang as Australian of the Century at thePeople's Choice Awards. SwimmerDawn Fraser, cricketerDonald Bradman, andophthalmologistFred Hollows were other contenders.[32]
InSt Vincent's Hospital, the Dr. Victor Chang Lowy Packer Building was established in 2008 with $35 million from the state government and $45 million in corporate and private donations.[33]Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark officially opened the building and declared that 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".[34] InTime magazine's "A Golden Anniversary" article, which lists people who have shaped the last "50 Years in the South Pacific" (1959–2009), Chang was listed as the figure of 1979–1989.[5]
In 2017, aSydney FerriesEmerald-class ferry was namedVictor Chang.[35] Minor planet 24450 was named after him.[36] On 21 November 2023, Google celebrated his 87th birthday with aGoogle Doodle.[37]
Chang met his wife Ann Simmons in 1966. He was the on-call emergency physician at St. Anthony's Hospital inNorth Cheam, London, where Ann took herself after being taken unwell at a party.[8] They had 3 children: Vanessa, Matthew, and Marcus.[38]
According to his children, he enjoyed driving, saying that cars "provided a chance for Dad to get away from it all; they were his hobby and his opportunity to relax".[8] He restored a1950s MG TF, and enjoyed the opportunity to vigorously drive many cars, including his1982 Citroën CX Prestige and severalPorsches.[3]
Chang had two younger siblings: sister Frances and brother Anthony. He 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.[8]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
