Su Hongxi

After American surgeon John Gibbon’s success in 1953, Su decided to introduce open heart surgery to China, purchasing two cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) pumps. He lived under surveillance, and his return was supposedly impeded. Still, he managed to transport the pumps to China with his American wife Jane McDonald's help. Jane flew to Europe via Canada, where she received the pumps. Later, Su sailed to Britain, where he joined Jane. They then crossed Europe and Asia, ultimately arriving in Beijing with the pumps.^[3]

Su founded the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery at the Fourth Military Medical University. On June 26, 1958, he performed the first successful open heart procedure in mainland China, repairing the VSD on a 6-year-old patient using CPB. In 1963, he performed the first aorta-carotid bypass in mainland China using a vascular prosthesis. He was transferred to 301 Hospital in 1972^[3] and served as the first president of the Chinese Society Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery from 1988 to 1992.^[4]

In 2013, Su joined the CCP at the age of 98.^[3] He died on July 31, 2018, at the age of 103.^[5]