Photo: CNN / Amanda Sealy
By Nadia Kounang of CNN
One year ago, Tim Andrews was among the world's first recipients of a genetically modified pig kidney.
Now, he is the first in that small group of pioneers to go on to receive a human kidney.
"I'm the first one that went across the bridge," he told CNN from the hospital on Thursday. "I'm the only person in the world that's ever had a pig kidney and then had a human kidney after it.
"Nobody's ever been across that bridge. That is cool!"
Andrews, who has diabetes and was living with end-stage kidney disease, received a pig kidney on 25 January, 2025, and lived with it for a record 271 days. After his body rejected the organ, it was removed in October and Andrews returned to dialysis - a gruelling process that kept him alive, but made him so miserable, it had driven him to the experimental xenotransplant in the first place.
"I cried," said Andrews, 67. He told his family he didn't expect to make it through the year, but at nearly midnight on 12 January, Mass General Brigham called to tell him that a human kidney - a near-perfect match - had been identified.
He was scheduled for t
Continue Reading on RNZ
This preview shows approximately 15% of the article. Read the full story on the publisher's website to support quality journalism.