The story
Tim Andrews from New Hampshire in the United States was aged 66 when he found out that he’d developed kidney disease linked to type 2 diabetes.
At that time, he was at the end-stage of the disease, meaning that he was in the final, most severe phase. Not much can be done at this stage, and many people in this situation are waiting for a replacement human kidney. There is shortage of human donor kidneys.
Andrews received a pig kidney, and it worked inside him for 271 days, the longest on record, US doctors say. However, the pig organ eventually failed and was removed so Andrews needed some dialysis, a medical treatment where a machine functions like a kidney.
He then received a human kidney transplant 82 days later.
News headlines
Pig kidneys successfully transplanted into humans
Financial Times
First-of-its-kind pig kidney keeps US man off dialysis for 271 days
Türkiye Today
Man lived with pig kidney as ‘bridge‘ before human transplant
Euronews
Key words and phrases
transplant
move or be moved from one place to another
- The donor heart was transplanted in a seven-hour operation.
first-of-its-kind
completely original and has never existed or happened before
- The city launched a first-of-its-kind electric bus network that runs entirely on solar power.
bridge
a temporary solution that helps someone get from one stage to another
- Her internship acted as a bridge between university and her dream career.