A BROTHER’S CHRISTMAS GIFT OF LIFE: On this day in 1954, the first successful kidney transplant in history was performed at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital (now called Brigham and Women’s Hospital) at Harvard University. The recipient—23-year-old Richard Herrick—was dying of chronic nephritis. The donor—Ronald Herrick—was his identical twin brother.
The procedure was, of course, dangerous for both brothers, and Ronald, a perfectly healthy young man, had a lot to lose. According to Ronald’s wife, “Ron got a note from Richard the night of the surgery telling him to get out of there and go home.” “Ron sent a note back saying I’m here, and I’m going to stay, and that’s it.”
The surgical team included J. Hartwell Harrison, Joseph Murray, and John P. Merrill. Murray received a Nobel Prize for this and his subsequent work in furthering the science of organ transplantation. He recounted the surgery in his autobiography: “There was a collective hush in the operating room as we gently removed the clamps from the vessels newly attached to the donor kidney.” “As blood flow was restored, the patient’s new kidney began to . . . turn pink. There were grins all around.”
Ronald’s gift gave Richard an extra eight years of life. And they were years of happiness. Richard went on to marry one of the nurses who cared for him and fathered two daughters before dying at the age of 31. Ronald lived with one kidney until 2010, when he died at the age of 79 of unrelated causes.
The Herrick brothers’ pathbreaking surgery is now routine. Ronald thus benefited not just Richard, but all the rest of us too. In 2018, over 35,000 organ transplants occurred in the United States, of which 81% came from cadavers and 19% from living donors. Of the total, about 21,000 were kidney transplants (which obviously dominates the living donor category). About 8000 were for liver, 3400 for heart, and 2500 for lung.
Alas, the most significant problem today is getting donors who can be matched to recipients. It is estimated that 20 die each day waiting for a transplant.