'I took a chance': Man who received first pig-to-human transplant bridge speaks

[Michael]

https://www.wcvb.com/article/mass-general-brigham-pig-kidney-case/73608811

BARRINGTON, N.H. —
A historic first for organ transplants is happening in Boston, Massachusetts.

Doctors at Massachusetts General Brigham confirmed that a kidney transplanted from a genetically edited pig bought more time for a patient on the waitlist for a human organ.

The patient was a man in his 60s who had end-stage kidney disease.

He received the pig kidney in January 2025 and was able to stop dialysis.

The kidney was removed after 271 days, which is the longest anyone has lived with a pig kidney since doctors performed the world's first procedure in 2024.

This past January, the patient received a human kidney from a deceased donor.

His surgeon was not sure if it would work.

"There was a concern in the field overall that by doing a pig transplant, we would prevent or limit the options of getting a human kidney transplant," said Dr. Leonardo Riella of Mass. General Brigham. "And with this case, we demonstrated that it is possible that patients do not get sensitized and there are no major limitations. And now Tim, our recipient, is a little over 280 days since his human kidney transplant and is doing extremely well."

Tim Andrews spoke with NewsCenter 5 at his house by the lake and said he's doing well.

"I never thought I'd see it," Andrews said. "I thought I'd be dead, and that's fine, but people in the future won't have to suffer like this."

This so-called "bridge option" from a pig kidney to a human kidney could be available to more than 90,000 Americans on the waitlist, all because of Andrews's decision.

"Thousands, if not millions of people, because I took a chance, what more can you ask for?" he said.