The following press release was taken in its entirety from a box that popped up when I went on the American Society of Nephrology's website today. Basically, a brother donated his kidney to his brother and the brother who received the kidney lived for 8 more years, an unbelievable success for the world's first recorded successful organ transplant. This reminds us that the courageous people who challenge the status quo and don't accept so-called medical realities and, as a result, improve medicine and human progress for all mankind.
Although, I have a feeling Mr. Ronald Lee Herrick might have said he was just doing what any other brother would do to keep alive his sibling or family member - just about anything he could do.
Death of Mr. Ronald Lee Herrick, Pioneer Transplant Donor
Ronald Lee Herrick died Monday, December 27, 2010, at age 79, in Augusta, Maine.
Mr. Herrick, a math teacher for almost four decades, donated his kidney to his twin brother, Richard, on December 23, 1954, in what is recognized as the world's first successful organ transplant. Ronald's courageous act helped change the face of medicine by advancing development of the field of organ transplantation. This revolutionary surgery took place 56 years ago at what is now the Brigham and Women's Hospital and was performed by Dr. Joseph E. Murray. Dr. John Merrill, one of the founders of the discipline of Nephrology and chief of the Renal Division at the Brigham, was a member of the team caring for transplant recipients including Mr. Herrick.
Receiving a kidney from his brother allowed Richard to live an additional eight years. The American Society of Nephrology gratefully acknowledges Mr. Herrick's major contribution to medicine.
Joseph V. Bonventre, MD, PhD, FASN
President, American Society of Nephrology
No comments:
Post a Comment