Pig Kidney Kept Man Alive 9 Months Until Human Transplant

Tim Andrews thought he was going to die. The 68-year-old New Hampshire man was on dialysis with end-stage kidney disease, and his prognosis wasn't good.

Then in January 2025, he became part of medical history. Surgeons at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston transplanted a kidney from a genetically modified pig into his body.

The pig, which Andrews nicknamed Wilma, had received 69 genetic edits to prevent virus transmission and help Andrews' immune system accept the foreign organ. After surgery, Andrews felt better than he had in years.

"I could walk around," he told reporters. "I wasn't tied to a machine. I wasn't dead tired. So for me, it was beautiful."

The pig kidney worked for 271 days, a record. About six months in, Andrews developed a bacterial infection that eventually damaged the organ's blood vessels. But the kidney had done its job as a bridge.

In January 2026, Andrews received a donated human kidney. Today, he swims, bikes, kayaks, and soaks up life. "Every day I wake up, I'm like, this is another extra day because I should have been dead a year ago or more," he says.

The Ripple Effect

The success means hope for thousands. Nearly 110,000 Americans sit on organ transplant waiting lists right now. More than 95,000 of them need kidneys.

About 12 people die each day waiting for a kidney transplant. In 2025 alone, fewer than 28,000 patients received human kidneys while tens of thousands more continued waiting, tethered to dialysis machines.

Since Andrews' surgery, the Mass General team has completed five more pig kidney transplants. One patient has already surpassed his nine-month record. The research shows that having a pig organ first doesn't affect how patients later respond to human transplants.

"Right now, we don't think there's any downside of having a pig kidney followed by a human kidney," says Mike Curtis, CEO of eGenesis, the company developing these organs.

Doctors say we're still years away from pig kidneys replacing human donations entirely. But as a temporary bridge for patients like Andrews, animal organs could transform transplant medicine.

Andrews remains grateful to Wilma. "She saved my life," he says. "She was the bridge so that I didn't die, so I got to the human kidney."

What started as one man's last hope might become a lifeline for thousands waiting for their chance to live.