‘Today is a great day’: After 57 years, VCU pays tribute to man whose heart was used without permission in first transplant
In an emotional ceremony Wednesday, VCU Health renamed an auditorium in honor of Bruce Tucker, the Black man whose heart was used without his permission in the first heart transplant performed in the South.
Local artist Hamilton Glass and a group of VCU students unveiled two murals paying tribute to Tucker, which incorporate words from his family members.
Gayle Turner, a first cousin of Bruce Tucker, spoke on behalf of the family at the ceremony.
“This momentous day could not have been foretold after the tragic loss of Bruce in 1968 or the unsuccessful civil litigation in 1972,” she said. “But today the ancestors are justified, rejoicing in this well-deserved public acknowledgement and memorial tribute.”
At the time of the transplant, the hospital was run by the Medical College of Virginia, which later became part of VCU. The college was one of many racing globally to perfect the heart transplant procedure, and in materials trumpeting the success of the operation at the time did not mention Tucker’s name.
In 2020, author Chip Jones resurrected the story for his book “The Organ Thieves: The Shocking Story of the First Heart Transplant in the Segregated South.”
VCU chose it as the “Common Book” for students in 2022-23, a text chosen each year to build campus-wide discussion around, and issued a formal apology to Tucker’s family at that time. The family challenged VCU to do more, ultimately leading to Wednesday’s ceremony.
There are a number of other steps planned as well, the school said. Those are a historical marker in Tucker’s home county of Dinwiddie, the installation of commemorative plaques that acknowledge his legacy throughout VCU Medical Center, the creation of a healing garden, the establishment of scholarships in his name, and several initiatives related to educating future medical professionals.
“I think it is a step in our journey towards reconciliation,” Sheryl Garland, VCU’s Chief Health Impact Officer, said of the mural. “I think it’s an opportunity for all the students who come here and learn, and who respect their craft to become healers, to really understand that every patient is a person, and that there’s a story behind every patient.”
Garland thanked the family for their persistence in ensuring that Tucker was properly memorialized, and Jones also credited VCU with taking the steps to reconcile.
“It’s hard to know what to do with a tough story from your past that has always been celebrated,” the author said.
Next to the mural is a QR code giving a factual recounting of Tucker’s story. Speakers on Wednesday emphasized that the mistreatment of Black patients by healthcare professionals was not limited just to MCV.
“VCU by their example, like today, can lead the nation in truth telling and addressing racial inequities in health care for the greater good of society,” Gayle Turner said. “So it’s not just about Bruce Tucker. It’s about where we go from here.”
(VCU is a sponsor of The Richmonder, but did not influence or review this story.)
