A Gadsden woman who lived with a pig kidney for 130 days had the organ removed after her body began rejecting it and is back on dialysis, doctors announced Friday.
According to the Associated Press, Towana Looney is recovering after the removal surgery at NYU Langone Health last week.
She has returned to her home in Gadsden, and in a statement to the outlet, she thanked her doctors for “the opportunity to be part of this incredible research.”
“Though the outcome is not what anyone wanted, I know a lot was learned from my 130 days with a pig kidney – and that this can help and inspire many others in their journey to overcoming kidney disease,” Looney told the Associated Press.
According to the outlet, before Looney’s transplant, “only four other Americans had received experimental xenotransplants of gene-edited pig organs – two hearts and two kidneys that lasted no longer than two months.”
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