Man previously convicted of stabbing a man becomes first recipient of genetically modified pig heart transplant

In 1988, Bennett was convicted of stabbing Edward Shumaker seven times, leaving him paralyzed. Schumaker spent 19 years being wheelchair-bound, and later had a stroke at age 39. He died just one week before he turned 41.

"Ed suffered the devastation and the trauma, for years and years, that my family had to deal with," his sister, Leslie Shumaker Downey, told The Washington Post.

She added that it appears, after getting out of prison, Bennett "went on and lived a good life." Downey added that "now he gets a second chance with a new heart — but I wish, in my opinion, it had gone to a deserving recipient."

"He's being given another shot at life," Downey said. "But my brother Ed wasn’t given a shot at life. Ed was given a death sentence."

Currently, 17 Americans die every day waiting for organs because of a shortage of donors. More than 106,000 Americas are desperately waiting for an organ from a donor, which, if it comes at all, can take years in many cases.

Bartley Griffith, who performed the surgery, told reporters the patient’s condition, which included heart failure and an irregular heartbeat, made Bennett ineligible for a human heart transplant.

"I said, 'We can’t give you a human heart; you don’t qualify. But maybe we can use one from an animal, a pig,'" Griffith recounted telling Barrett. "It's never been done before, but we think we can do it.'"

Arthur Caplan, a NYU professor of bioethics, defended the decision to use Barrett for the procedure, saying. "The key principle in medicine is to treat anyone who is sick, regardless of who they are. We are not in the business of sorting sinners from saints. Crime is a legal matter."

In a written statement, officials at the University of Maryland Medical Center, where the ground-breaking procedure was performed, said they provide "lifesaving care to every patient who comes through their doors based on their medical needs, not their background or life circumstances."

"This patient came to us in dire need, and a decision was made about his transplant eligibility based solely on his medical records," the statement continued.

"We have a legal system designed to determine just redress for crimes," he said. "And we have a health-care system that aims to provide care without regard to people’s personal character or history," said Scott Halpern, a medical ethics professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

At the ethical level, experts appear to all agree. In real life, however, there are reports of patients being moved down or even off of waiting lists due to not being vaccinated.