The 62-year-old man who made history as the first living person to receive a genetically modified pig kidney has been discharged from the hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston announced.

Richard Slayman, who underwent the four-hour surgery on March 16, was able to leave the hospital Wednesday and is “recovering well.”

“We are pleased to share that today, Rick Slayman, our first patient to receive a genetically-modified pig kidney transplant, was discharged from the hospital. He is recovering well and will continue to recover at home with his family,” the hospital said in a statement posted on Instagram.

The post included a statement from the patient, who thanked the medical team for their care and said he is experiencing “one of the happiest moments” of his life.

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“This moment — leaving the hospital with one of the cleanest bills of health I’ve had in a long time — is one that I’ve waited for, hoped for and dreamed about for many years. It is now a reality and one of the happiest moments of my life. … I look forward to spending time with my family, friends and loved ones, free from the burden of dialysis that has dominated my life for so many years. Finally, I want to thank everyone who has followed my story and sent well wishes, especially those waiting for an organ transplant. Today marks the beginning of a new chapter not only for me, but for them as well,” he said.

Slayman, of Weymouth, Massachusetts, has lived with end-stage kidney disease, type 2 diabetes and hypertension for several years. He previously received a kidney transplant from a deceased human donor in December 2018, also at MGH, after being on dialysis for seven years.

However, the transplanted kidney began to fail about five years later, and he resumed dialysis in May 2023. He then faced recurring complications with his dialysis vascular access, requiring him to visit the hospital every other week for declotting and surgical revisions, significantly impacting his quality of life.

In January 2022, the University of Maryland performed the first experimental transplant of a genetically modified pig heart into 57-year-old David Bennett, who died two months after the surgery. Then in September 2023, 58-year-old Lawrence Faucette became the second patient to undergo the procedure, and the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore announced his death six weeks after the operation.

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