The first person to ever get a kidney transplant from a pig was just freed from the hospital. Rich “Rick” Slayman is 62 years old and has been sick with kidney disease that has reached the end stage. After surgery at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, which is Harvard Medical School’s main teaching hospital, he no longer needs dialysis.
Before his kidney donation from a pig worked, Slayman went through a lot. He was told he had renal failure, which meant his kidneys could not work. He then went through seven years of dialysis before his first transfer from a person.
This went on for five years until the given kidney stopped working. At this point, Genesis gave him the pig kidney, which was called a “gene-edited” pig kidney.
“One of the cleanest bills of health I’ve had in a long time,” Slayman said as he left the hospital today. He also said it was the best day of his life. He saw what was done was called a xenotransplantation.
“Thank you to everyone who has seen my story and sent me well wishes, especially those who are waiting for a kidney transplant,” Slayman said. Both I and they are starting over today.
This is a big step forward that could make it easier for more people to get organs and surgeries. It’s been very hard to find organs in the US. These kinds of treatments could help people who wouldn’t be able to get an organ transplant otherwise.
