As sub-Saharan Africa's only dedicated specialist paediatric hospital and one of South Africa's preferred facilities, the Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital is exceptionally proud of their long list of South African firsts:

• 1959 - The first open-heart surgery on a child.
• 1960 - The largest neonatal intensive care unit (Dr Chris Barnard established the original cardiac unit and ICU).
• 1964 - The first hospital to separate conjoined twins.
• 1969 - The first children's cancer service.
• 1971 - The first paediatric poison information centre.
• 1978 - The first Child Accident Prevention Foundation (CAPFSA).
• 1979 - The first and only paediatric neurosurgery programme.
• 1981 - The first lumbosacral selective rhizotomy for spasticity.
• 1984 - The first dedicated paediatric trauma unit.
• 1984 - The first paediatric day surgery unit.
• 1990 - The first child heart transplant.
• 1991 - The first and only paediatric liver transplant programme.
• 1997 - The first double transplant on a child (liver and kidney).
• 2001 - The first autologous epithelial autograft on a burn patient.
• 2002 - The first living related liver transplant.

Other Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital Achievements

• Since 1964, 35 sets of conjoined twins have been separated.
• Since 1987, 70 liver transplants have been performed.
• Since 1968, 114 kidney transplants have been performed.

You can help the medical teams at the Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital perform their daily miracles by donating whatever you can to the Trust