Google is honouring the pioneering surgeon Dr Victor Chang on Tuesday by providing a Doodle for what would have been his 87th birthday.
The Chinese-Australian doctor was murdered in Sydney in 1991 when he was only 54 but his influence is still being felt to this day.
The search engine only gives its Doodle treatment to those who have had noteworthy or inspiring lives, and the sketch of Dr Chang, which shows him standing before a cardiogram, is testament to that.
Google has recently honoured Adelaide Hall and France Gall with its Doodles. The design of Dr Chang is being shown in the UK and many other countries, including Australia.
Who is Dr Victor Chang?
Born in Shanghai on November 21, 1936, Dr Chang studied medicine and surgery at the University of Sydney before developing his experience at hospitals around the world.
He returned to Australia in the early 1970s. At St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney he developed an artificial heart valve which proved significantly cheaper than previous models, making it globally accessible for use in lifesaving procedures.
In 1984, he performed a successful heart transplant on 14-year-old Fiona Coote, Australia’s youngest ever such patient and is today the country’s longest surviving beneficiary.
However, in 1991 Dr Chang was shot dead by a Malaysian citizen called Chiew Seng Liew in Sydney. Liew was released in 2012.
In 1999, Dr Chang was voted Australian of the Century at the People’s Choice Awards. But within his lifetime, he was granted the Companion of the Order of Australia.
Additionally, he created the Victor Chang Foundation in 1984 to help educate South East Asian medics in Australia.
With his wife Ann Simmons, he had three children: Vanessa, Matthew, and Marcus.
Vanessa Chang said: “Dad held a strong conviction that true success in life involved sharing one's knowledge and expertise. According to him, the key to enduring success and recognition in your endeavours was to impart knowledge, enabling others to carry on the work in your absence. He firmly believed that there was no benefit in keeping knowledge to oneself.
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“When it came to training overseas visitors, his approach extended beyond merely instructing. He ensured that all aspects of their life in an unfamiliar country were addressed. Drawing from his own experience as a migrant, Dad empathised with the challenges people faced when leaving their homelands, often without their families. His goal was to establish a supportive environment, making their transition as comfortable as possible.”
