The Organ Thieves: The Shocking Story of the First Heart Transplant in the Segregated South

MCV received a “much-need morale boost” (203) when Louis B. Russell Jr., an African American educator from Indiana, arrived at the facility in need of a heart transplant. Lower performed the transplant successfully using the heart of Robert C. Brown, an African American teen who had been fatally shot. Three months after the transplant, in early October, Russell began giving interviews. He had a gregarious personality and became a local favorite. Alberta Lindsey, a female journalist during a time of rampant sexism in the field, wrote several stories about him. In November, Russell went home to Indiana, resumed his teaching job, and ate a healthier diet. In 1970, Russell made more than 500 speaking appearances and became the face of heart transplant survivors. He kept in touch with the donor’s family and celebrated the donor’s birthday each year as well as his own and the date of the transplant. Defying the odds, Russell lived more than six years with the new heart. He died on November 24, 1974, at age 49.

Russell’s story provided good public relations for MCV. However, Wilder made sure that the first transplant stayed in the news as well. He arranged an interview for his client, William Tucker, which established a public account of William’s search for Bruce the day after his accident and the “impersonal way MCV officials broke the tragic news” (214) to him and failed to mention the removal of Bruce’s organs. It was clear that the Tucker family was considering litigation. However, at this point, “[a]ny pall cast over MCV by the threat of litigation was partly dispelled by Louis Russell’s continued good health and growing reputation” (215).

Attorney Jack Russell, the legal defense counsel for physicians in Richmond, had working-class roots. He was understated and resented flashy attorneys. Drawing on the expertise of physicians at MCV and elsewhere in Richmond, Russell used their testimony in court and made sure that he understood the medical claims. He was quick to settle cases when his clients had been negligent. However, he admired the medical community and often fiercely defended physicians. He taught a seminar at MCV to prospective doctors about how to avoid malpractice cases.

At a time of “a widening divide of social and political values” (227) in the 1970s, Wilder served in the Virginia State Senate. He introduced a bill to remove a racist state song. The action shocked his white colleagues and subjected him to vilification in the local press and hate mail. The Senate declined to remove the song. When legislation was proposed to allow the removal of organs for transplants without the family’s permission, Wilder opposed it. He made arguments similar to those he later made in the Tucker case, noting the history of grave robbery and William’s frantic search for his brother. The bill nonetheless passed. However, the public (especially the African American community) was uneasy with heart transplants in the 1970s, as articulated in culture via films, comedy, and other media.

Faced with a two-year statute of limitations, Wilder filed a civil lawsuit against MCV on May 22, 1970, Tucker’s Administrator v. Dr. Richard R. Lower et al. While the first four names in the lawsuit were Lower, Hume, David Sewell (who had removed Bruce Tucker’s heart), and Fatteh, it was “wide-reaching” and named all those who encountered Bruce at the hospital after his accident. Wilder asserted in the wrongful death lawsuit that Bruce’s heart was taken before his death. He claimed emotional distress damages on behalf of William Tucker in the amount of $900,000 and sought an additional $100,000 for the “defendants’ failure ‘to possess and execute […] care, caution, skill, knowledge, and learning’ for Bruce Tucker while he was under their care” (236). Noting that William Tucker was denied the opportunity to give informed consent to remove his brother’s organs, the lawsuit was the first of its kind claiming the wrongful death of an organ donor.

In the spring of 1972, when the civil case came to trial, the racial division was visibly evident. On MCV’s side were a group of white attorneys, and on Tucker’s side were two African American attorneys. Judge A. Christian Compton presided over the trial. The jury consisted of seven white males, including David Plageman and the foreman, William F. Tompkins Jr. Accustomed to arguing before all-white juries, Wilder felt confident given that the law was on his side.

The MCV attorneys had a huge financial advantage over Wilder, a state senator running his own practice. Paid hourly and for their expenses, the MCV attorneys had the resources to conduct research and travel. Wilder would be compensated only if he won the case, and that would occur after the trial.

Jack Russell headed the defense team. Motivated to protect the reputations of Lower and Hume, he recognized the need to convince the judge and jury to accept a more enlightened definition of death than was written in law. Lower was deeply worried about the case. Notified by his insurance company that punitive damages would not be covered at all and the compensatory damages sought well exceeded his coverage, he would be financially liable in the event of a loss. The potential damages had doubled to $2 million when Wilder filed a second case in federal court. Lower felt as though he was on “a ‘Most Wanted’ poster” (246). In contrast, Hume was relaxed and assumed that the trial would change the law regarding the definition of death.