Alabama woman who is the only person in the world with a working pig organ reaches a record 2 months

An Alabama woman who is the only recipient of a pig organ transplant passed a milestone Saturday when she became the longest-living person with a functioning pig organ.

Towana Looney, 53, remains fit and full of energy, reaching a record 61 days with her pig kidney on Saturday.

“I’m a big woman,” Looney told The Associated Press. “It’s a new experience in life.”

Only four other Americans have received experimental transplants of genetically engineered pig organs – two received a heart and two others received a kidney – but none of them lived longer than two months.

WOMAN GETS KIDNEY TRANSPLANT, LEAVES HOSPITAL DAYS LATER: ‘SECOND CHANCE’

“If you saw him on the street, you wouldn’t know that he is the only person in the world walking around with a working pig organ inside him,” said Dr. Robert Montgomery of NYU Langone Health, who led Looney’s transplant.

Montgomery said Looney’s kidney function was “absolutely normal.” He was staying in New York for a while for post-transplant tests, but doctors hope he can return home to Gadsden, Alabama, in about a month.

“We’re very hopeful that this will continue to work and work well, you know, for a significant period of time,” Montgomery said.

Scientists are modifying pigs, so their organs are human-like, to help alleviate the severe shortage of human organs that can be used for transplants.

More than 100,000 people are on the transplant list in the US. Most of these people need a kidney, and thousands die waiting.

The Food and Drug Administration only allows pig organ transplants in special cases for people who have run out of other options.

Dr. Tatsuo Kawai of Massachusetts General Hospital, who led the world’s first pig kidney transplant last year and works with another pig developer, eGenesis, said how well Looney is doing is “a very valuable experience.”

Towana Looney attended the NYU Langone Health press conference on Tuesday, December 17, 2024. (Fox Stories)

Looney was healthier than previous recipients of pig organs, according to Kawai, who said his progress will help inform doctors for future efforts.

“We have to learn from each other,” he said.

Looney donated a kidney to his mother in 1999 and pregnancy complications later caused high blood pressure that damaged his remaining kidney, eventually failing, a rare condition among living donors.

He spent eight years on dialysis before doctors decided he was unlikely to receive a donated organ, as he had too high levels of the immune system to attack another human kidney.

Looney, looking for an alternative, wanted to try a pig organ. No one knew how it would work in someone who was “over-sensitized” with an overactive immune system.

Montgomery’s team has closely monitored Looney’s recovery with blood tests and other measurements since the Nov. 1 surgery. 25. About three weeks after the transplant, subtle signs of early rejection were detected. They knew how to look for these signs because of a 2023 study where pig kidneys functioned for 61 days inside a dead man whose body was donated for research.

MASSACHUSETTS MAN, RECIPIENT OF FIRST SUCCESSFUL PIG TRANSPLANT FOR EYE PLUGGING, HAS BEEN RELEASED FROM HOSPITAL.

Outside the emergency room door of NYU Langone Health on April 6, 2020, in New York City. (Noam Galai/Getty Images)

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS PROGRAM

Montgomery said his team successfully handled Looney and there have been no signs of a rebound since.

It’s impossible to predict how long Looney’s new kidney will work. But if it fails, he can get dialysis again.

“The truth is that we don’t really know what the next obstacles are because this is the first time we have reached this level,” said Montgomery. “We have to keep a close eye on him.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.