The family of Richard Slayman, the first living patient to receive a genetically modified pig kidney transplant in the world, announced his death on Saturday, two months after the procedure.
The US hospital Massachusetts General Hospital carried out the kidney transplant on the 62-year-old Slayman, confirmed.
REPORTERS AT LARGE reported that Slayman underwent the four-hour procedure in March at Massachusetts General Hospital and was discharged two weeks later on April 2.
According to the hospital, there is no indication that he died as a result of his recent transplant.
“The Mass General transplant team is deeply saddened at the sudden passing of Mr. Rick Slayman. We do not indicate that it was the result of his recent transplant,” Massachusetts General Hospital said in a statement.
Slayman, a resident of Weymouth, 16 miles southeast of Boston, had been living with Type 2 diabetes and hypertension for many years, the hospital said at the time of his transplant. He was on dialysis for many years before receiving a kidney transplant from a human deceased donor in December 2018 at Massachusetts General Hospital.
However, the kidney began to fail about five years later and Slayman was forced to resume dialysis in May 2023, which the hospital said affected his quality of life.
“Mr. Slayman will forever be seen as a beacon of hope to countless transplant patients worldwide. We are deeply grateful for his trust and willingness to advance the field of xenotransplantation. We offer our heartfelt condolences to Mr. Slayman’s family and loved ones as they remember an extraordinary person whose generosity and kindness touched all who knew him,” the hospital’s statement read.
