Recipient of first pig kidney transplant dies nearly 2 months later

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: ABC News

May 11, 2024, 9:46 PM


The 62-year-old man who received the first-ever pig kidney transplant in the world has died, his family announced on Saturday.

Richard Slayman underwent the four-hour procedure in March at Massachusetts General Hospital and was discharged from the hospital two weeks later on April 2. The hospital emphasized there was no indication Slayman's sudden passing was due to the transplant.

"The Mass General transplant team is deeply saddened at the sudden passing of Mr. Rick Slayman. We have no indication that it was the result of his recent transplant," Massachusetts General Hospital said in a statement.

Slayman a resident of Weymouth -- 16 miles southeast of Boston -- had been living with Type 2 diabetes and hypertension for many years, the hospital said at the time of his transplant. He was on dialysis for many years before receiving a kidney transplant from a human deceased donor in December 2018 at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Health/recipient-pig-kidney-transplant-dies-2-months/story?id=110139515

[Think. Again.]

1. I'm curious about what he died from....

...it seems odd there's no indication of that in the article.

[Marthe48]

2. I'd like to know too

I have a friend who is a transpant survivor, and when she was waiting for a donor, we learned so much about the process. I read that just in the last week or so, a woman got a pig kidney transplant. I hope she does better.

[FailureToCommunicate]

3. The recipient seemed to have a number of health issues beyond the kidney problems.

[Bayard]

8. That's it

Both of my sisters were Type 1 from the time they were kids. Diabetes is really hard on all of the body, and causes all sorts of other problems.

[IronLionZion]

4. No indication that it was from the transplant

hmm..

I hope they release the reason for death soon because people are going to assume it's from the transplant. His body had problems with the human kidney transplant after 5 years so it could be something unique to him.

[LisaL]

13. So far everybody who got pig's organs transplanted died

within months.

[FakeNoose]

5. It was experimental surgery, and it was a win - he lived for two months

This patient was already dying any way. I'm sure they gave him a choice to participate in the experiment. Doctors and researchers learned a lot from this initial surgery, and the procedure will improve in future attempts.

Don't forget that the first heart transplant was an experiment on a dying patient. Now those are done routinely and people's lives are greatly improved.

[Think. Again.]

7. Thank you for posting that positive perspective.

[Jean Genie]

6. kidney failure

One wonders if, had the pig been asked its opinion on the matter, the animal would have so "generously" donated its kidney, only to have it fail in two short months.

[NanaCat]

9. The donor was probably someone's breakfast

Even before the kidney got transplanted, so the concern about its kidney would be a moot point.

[cstanleytech]

10. Fake story, Donald Trump would never donate a kidney.

[SoFlaBro]

11. So they installed a pig's ass and the patient dropped fucking dead. Big surprise.

[LudwigPastorius]

12. What the hell, bro?