Greater Long Island coverage is funded in part by Toresco & Simonelli, a boutique injury and family law firm in West Islip. They fight for their clients. Click here to get in touch.
Three months after making medical history, Towana Looney — the longest-living recipient of a genetically engineered pig kidney — is leaving New York City and heading home to Alabama, feeling nothing short of miraculous.
“I feel blessed,” said the 53-year-old grandmother. “I’m so grateful to be alive and thankful for this incredible gift. It couldn’t have happened without God and the amazing team of doctors, nurses, and researchers who have been by my side.”
Looney, who spent years battling kidney failure, underwent groundbreaking transplant surgery at NYU Langone Health on Nov. 25, receiving a kidney from a 10-gene-edited pig — only the third person in the world to ever do so.
After months of close monitoring in Manhattan, she finally made her way back South on Tuesday, Feb. 25, where she’ll continue to be checked monthly by NYU’s top transplant experts, hospital officials said.
New chance at life
“Towana’s recovery has been nothing short of remarkable,” said Dr. Robert Montgomery, the renowned surgeon behind the procedure. “We’re thrilled to see her return home, healthy and ready for this exciting new phase in her life.”
And Looney’s journey to this moment has been nothing short of extraordinary.
After donating a kidney to her own mother, a pregnancy complication led to end-stage kidney failure within her remaining kidney, forcing her onto eight grueling years of dialysis. High levels of harmful antibodies made her ineligible for a human transplant—until science stepped in with a futuristic fix: xenotransplantation, or the use of animal organs in human patients.
Her life-saving “UKidney” was developed by biotech company Revivicor Inc., a subsidiary of United Therapeutics, which pioneered a method to make pig kidneys more compatible for human recipients. And in a major breakthrough, the FDA just greenlit the first-ever clinical trial for the procedure, with up to 50 patients set to receive a UKidney in the coming years, Langone official said.
Top: Towana Looney and husband Willie Bennett arrive at NYU Langone Health’s Kimmel Pavilion on Monday, Feb. 24. Credit: Mateo Salcedo/NYU Langone Health.
