Boyd Rusia Rush (July 4, 1895 – January 24, 1964) was an American retired upholsterer who was the recipient of the world's first heart transplant in the early morning hours of January 24, 1964, at University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, Mississippi. In an emergency fall-back position with no human donor heart available, Boyd's doctor James D. Hardy used one of four chimpanzees he had acquired for just such an eventuality. This transplanted heart beat in Rush's chest for approximately one hour, and then failed without Rush regaining consciousness.