Skip to content
  • Happy Health
  • Happy Mindset
  • Animal Wonders
  • About Us
    • Team
  • Subscribe
Menu
  • Happy Health
  • Happy Mindset
  • Animal Wonders
  • About Us
    • Team
  • Subscribe
Happy News

He Was One Of The First People To Get A Pig Kidney And His Story Traces The Golden Age Of Transplant Medicine

Tim Andrews of Concord, New Hampshire was running out of options three years ago when doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital offered him a chance at something the world had never seen: a genetically modified pig kidney, transplanted into a living human being. Andrews became one of the first 10 people in history to undergo the experimental procedure, known as xenotransplantation, and his pig kidney kept him alive and off dialysis for 271 days, a record at the time, including a stretch when he was healthy enough to throw out the first pitch at Fenway Park. When the pig kidney eventually stopped functioning well, it was removed, and Andrews got extraordinarily lucky: he reached the top of the human kidney transplant waiting list and received a perfect match. He now has a functioning human kidney and says he is thinking about his future in terms of decades instead of days.

Andrews, now 68, is being profiled by USA Today as part of its coverage of the United States’ 250th anniversary year, and his story traces an arc of transplant medicine that began with the first successful organ transplant just a few miles from where Andrews received his own in 1954. Of the 10 people who have received pig kidney transplants, only six are currently still alive, making Andrews not only the record holder for the longest survival with a pig organ, but also one of the rare individuals to bridge from xenotransplantation into a human transplant. Clinical trials for pig kidney transplants began in 2026, and the goal physicians have set is to count survival in years rather than days. The lead transplant surgeon at Mass General Brigham called this the golden age of transplantation, and Andrews, back to trading jokes with his older sister, appears to agree.

Source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/05/03/medical-journey-250-america-kidney-transplant-pig/88586756007/

PrevPreviousThe 2026 Met Gala Was Absolutely Iconic, Here Are Some Of The Best Moments
NextScientists Just Proved For The First Time That Human Hearts Can Repair Themselves After A Heart AttackNext

Recent Articles

Happy News

For The First Time In History Medicare Is Covering Weight Loss Drugs And The Price Is $50 A Month

May 14, 2026

Starting July 1, 2026 eligible Medicare enrollees will be able to access GLP-1 weight loss medications including Wegovy, Zepbound, and the newer drug Foundayo for a flat $50 monthly copay, in a historic first for the program, which has never before covered anti-obesity medications despite covering many of the serious

Read More
Happy News

Swedish Scientists Just Grew The Cells Type 1 Diabetes Destroys From Scratch

May 13, 2026

Scientists at Karolinska Institutet and KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden have developed a more reliable method for growing insulin-producing cells from human stem cells, and the results published in Stem Cell Reports represent one of the most encouraging steps yet toward a potential treatment for type 1 diabetes.

Read More
Happy News

New Research Reveals The Personality Trait That Predicts Whether You Will Seek Out A Cat When Stressed

May 12, 2026

A study published in the journal Anthrozoös, conducted by researchers at Washington State University and KU Leuven in Belgium, has identified the personality trait most likely to predict whether someone will seek out a cat for stress relief rather than a dog, and the answer has a name: emotionality. Researchers

Read More
« Previous Next »
  • Privacy Notice
  • Accessibility Notice
  • Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
  • Unsubscribe
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Privacy Notice
  • Accessibility Notice
  • Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
  • Unsubscribe
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
Copyright © 2026 HappyNews.