Do you know that the first blood transfusion to a human was performed on 15th June, 1667 by the French physician Jean-Baptise Denys? He took blood from a sheep and gave it to a boy.

In 1667, Jean-Baptiste Denis who was physician to King Louis XIV, administered the first fully documented human blood transfusion. He transfused about twelve ounces of sheep blood into a 15-year-old boy, who had been bled with leeches 20 times. The boy survived the transfusion. Denys performed another transfusion into a labourer, who also survived.

The third and fourth transfusion patients fared badly, though. The third died shortly after having a transfusion, and the fourth died while a transfusion was in progress. The fourth patient’s wife accused Denis of murder. Human blood and sheep’s blood aren’t compatible. Human blood is frequently not even compatible with other human blood.

Within 10 years, transfusing the blood of animals to humans becomes prohibited by law because of reactions. Denys—the man who boldly championed transfusion against all odds—invented styptic, used to stop mild bleeding. Denys died in 1704 at the age of sixty-nine.

France Postal Department has issued a commemorative stamp on first recorded blood transfusion.

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