'I feel like superwoman!' Woman becomes longest-surviving recipient of pig organ transplant
GB News science & health editor, Lucy Johnston on a new pandemic
GB News
A woman has said she feels like "superwoman" after becoming the longest-surviving patient to receive a pig organ transplant.
Towana Looney, from Alabama, USA received the kidney in November after waiting for almost eight years on the organ transplant list.
She donated a kidney to her mother in 1999 but after pregnancy complications, Looney developed kidney failure.
However, after living healthily for 61 days with a pig organ, the woman says she’s experiencing "a new take on life".
She had the operation done in New York where she left the hospital only 11 days later
Mateo Salcedo/NYU Langone Health
She had the operation done in New York where she left the hospital only 11 days later, however, she is staying in the state for another month for observation.
Dr Robert Montgomery from NYU Langone Health, who led Looney's transplant said the new kidney function was "absolutely normal".
"If you saw her on the street, you would have no idea that she's the only person in the world walking around with a pig organ inside them that's functioning," he said.
However, the medical team is now in uncharted territory, with the doctor admitting they don’t know what’s next as this is the first time they had gotten this far.
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"We'll have to continue to really keep a close eye on her."
In the US, over 100,000 people are waiting for organ transplants - most in need of a kidney.
According to the NHS, there are about 7,500 people on the UK Transplant Waiting list, and last year 415 died while waiting.
Genetically altered pig organs could be the solution to a severe shortage of human organs available for transplant.
This comes as the world’s first formal study on xenotransplantation is set to begin sometime this year
Joe Carrotta/ NYU Langone Health
Looney called the operation "a blessing". "I feel like I've been given another chance at life. I cannot wait to be able to travel again and spend more quality time with my family and grandchildren," she added.
At the moment, no UK hospital has done a similar transplant, however US hospitals are testing to see what works and what doesn’t.
This comes as the world’s first formal study on xenotransplantation is set to begin sometime this year.
Dr Montgomery called Looney "a beacon of hope", and said she represents the culmination of progress we have made in xenotransplantation since we performed the first surgery in 2021."
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