Louis Washkansky, Denise Darvall, and Christiaan Barnard - these three individuals, who had never met before, made medical and media history on December 3, 1967. They were involved in the first successful heart transplant from one person to another. What a story for journalists and their global audience! Now, the dissertation by Eckart Roloff from 1972 is available, showing how 20 German newspapers and magazines reported on this sensation and subsequent heart transplants. It also illustrates the developments and structures that shape medical journalism. This first empirical study on this subject demonstrates how the now-famous, once-anonymous patient was brought to public attention.