A Mother's Kidney Turns 100 Inside the Son She Saved
Celebrating the 100th birthday of the kidney donated to him as a teenager
In 1978, 16-year-old Ray Vetuskey received a kidney from his mother Betty at Strong Hospital in Rochester. Forty-eight years later, that kidney is still working, making him the longest-surviving transplant recipient in the hospital's history. Living kidney donations typically last 15 to 20 years. Betty died before her 100th birthday, but her kidney lives on, and Vetuskey honors her memory with a star named after her.
We were both on the gurneys, holding hands and mom was crying and said don't worry about a thing because I got a concert to go to and I'm not going to miss it.
- Wittie
The detail that got me: both on gurneys holding hands, and the mom crying tells him "don't worry about a thing, I've got a Genesis concert and I'm not missing it". They both made it to the concert. He still has the ticket stub
- phibz
The math here is a little confusing, but that's an exceptionally long lived organ. For reference I received a kidney transplant from my mother at 16. It lasted 19 years after being transplanted. My mother was 68 when I had to return to dialysis.
- d_silin
There is an observation that donated organs sync to a biological age of the recipient.
https://www.inc.com/lucia-auerbach/can-transplanted-heart-be...
- Grimeton
>Vetuskey only needs to visit Strong Hospital once a year for a check-up, and doctors believe the century-old kidney could last him the rest of his life.
Yeah well...
- mrb
Apparently the oldest transplanted liver in humans is 108 years old:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/transplanted-liver...