History-Making Pig Kidney Recipient Released from Boston Hospital

Rick Slayman, a 62-year-old man from Weymouth, Massachusetts, has been given a new lease on life after he became the first person in the world to receive a pig kidney transplant at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston on March 21.

Slayman was discharged from the hospital on Wednesday (Apr. 3), two weeks after the surgery.

"This moment - leaving the hospital today with one of the cleanest bills of health I've had in a long time - is one I wished would come for many years," he said in a statement. "Now, it's a reality and one of the happiest moments of my life."

He went on to thank all of the doctors and nurses who cared for him.

"The care I received was exceptional and I trust the physicians of the Mass General Brigham health system with my life," he added. "I'm excited to resume spending time with my family, friends, and loved ones free from the burden of dialysis that has affected my quality of life for many years."

According to CBS News, Slayman was living with end-stage kidney disease, along with Type 2 diabetes and hypertension. He already received a human kidney transplant back in 2018, but it started failing five years later.

Mass. General said the transplant was the first time a pig kidney—donated by eGenesis in Cambridge and genetically edited to remove harmful pig genes and add certain human ones to improve its compatibility—had been transplanted into a living human patient.