New Hampshire man is 2nd person known to be living with pig kidney

New Hampshire man is 2nd person living with pig kidney

Robert Besser
12 Feb 2025, 20:16 GMT+10

New Hampshire man is 2nd person known to be living with pig kidney

Tim Andrews, a 66-year-old from New Hampshire, spent months getting in shape for a chance to receive a pig kidney transplant
His hard work paid off—he is now the second person known to be living with a pig kidney
Massachusetts General Hospital announced that Andrews no longer needed dialysis and was recovering so well from the January 25 transplant that he left the hospital just a week later

CONCORD, New Hampshire: Tim Andrews, a 66-year-old from New Hampshire, spent months getting in shape for a chance to receive a pig kidney transplant.

His hard work paid off—he is now the second person known to be living with a pig kidney. Massachusetts General Hospital announced that Andrews no longer needed dialysis and was recovering so well from the January 25 transplant that he left the hospital just a week later.

"When I woke up in the recovery room, I was a new man," Andrews told The Associated Press.

His surgery is part of a groundbreaking effort to see if animal-to-human transplants can help solve the organ shortage. Scientists are genetically modifying pigs to make their organs more compatible with humans. More than 100,000 people in the U.S. need transplants, mostly kidneys, and many die waiting.

Andrews' kidneys failed two years ago, and doctors warned that getting a human kidney would be difficult—he could wait seven years or more. Facing worsening health, he asked for the experimental pig kidney transplant, promising to do whatever it took to qualify. After months of physical therapy and weight loss, he became eligible for the pilot study.

During surgery, his new pig kidney started working immediately and showed no signs of rejection. Andrews now wants to return to his old dialysis clinic and "tell these people there's hope because no hope is not a good thing," he said.

Categories: U.S. news, New Hampshire news, Medical news, Healthcare news, Human Resources news, Animal news.