02/17/2026
Vivian Thomas, along with Dr. Blalock, gave countless people of all ages the most precious of gifts - more time to be together. While children were the focus, their groundbreaking partnership made heart surgery possible for everyone 💕 We honor their legacy today and every day. ✨ ❤️
In honor of and we're proud to highlight the work of Dr. Vivien Thomas, who changed the history of heart surgery and broke barriers along the way. ❤️ In 1941, he joined Dr. Alfred Blalock at Johns Hopkins, where, alongside Helen Taussig, they developed the procedure used in the "blue baby" operation—the first attempt to treat Tetralogy of Fallot. Though Thomas was not credited at the time, he was truly a cardiac pioneer who developed techniques and tools that would lead to today’s modern heart surgery.
