Rick Slayman, the first recipient of a genetically modified pig kidney, has died, according to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
The hospital shared the news in a statement on Sunday, noting that the 62-year-old of Weymouth, Massachusetts, received the transplant in March in a four-hour surgery.
“The Mass General transplant team is deeply saddened at the sudden passing of Mr. Rick Slayman,” the hospital said in a statement. “We have no indication that it was the result of his recent transplant.”
The surgery was dubbed “a major milestone in the quest to provide more readily available organs to patients.”
Slayman had been suffering from end-stage renal disease at the time of the transplant.
In 2018, after seven years on dialysis, Slayman received a human kidney transplant, but after five years, the organ failed, and he was put back on dialysis.
His last kidney was provided by eGenesis of Cambridge, Massachusetts. The organ came from a pig that was genetically edited to remove genes that were harmful to humans and added genes that improved compatibility, the hospital shared.
“Our family is deeply saddened about the sudden passing of our beloved Rick but take great comfort knowing he inspired so many,” Slayman’s family said in a statement.