Thirty-one years ago today, on July 6, 1994 (May 28, 1994 lunar calendar), the longest surviving heart transplant patient died. Dirk Vanzier, the longest surviving heart transplant patient in the world, died in Cape Town on July 6, 1994 at the age of 68. Dirk Vanzier had a heart transplant in 1971 by Chris Barnard, a well-known South African heart transplant surgeon. Vanzier's son, Kuni, said his father had recently suffered a stroke that paralyzed the left side of his body, and the death had nothing to do with the heart. Vanzier's son, Kuni, said his father had recently suffered a stroke that paralyzed the left side of his body, and the death had nothing to do with the heart.