An Alabama woman has become the longest living recipient of a pig organ transplant.
Towana Looney, 53, passed the milestone on Saturday, Jan. 25, when she was reported to be “healthy and full of energy” 61 days after her transplant, according to the Associated Press.
“I’m superwoman,” she told the outlet. “It’s a new take on life.”
Looney is the fifth patient to be given a gene-edited pig organ since 2022 — and the third to receive a kidney — per The New York Times.
None of the other recipients survived beyond the two-month mark.
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“If you saw her on the street, you would have no idea that she’s the only person in the world walking around with a pig organ inside them that’s functioning,” Dr. Robert Montgomery of NYU Langone Health told the AP.
Montgomery, who led Looney’s transplant, called her kidney function “absolutely normal.” Now, doctors hope she can return to her home in Gadsden, Ala. in about another month.
“We’re quite optimistic that this is going to continue to work and work well for, you know, a significant period of time,” Montgomery said.
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In December, it was reported that Looney was “recuperating well” after her November transplant. The patient was discharged from the hospital 11 days after surgery.
Looney had previously donated a kidney to her mother in 1999, before her remaining kidney was later damaged — and eventually failed — due to pregnancy complications, the AP reported. She had developed a high level of antibodies, which meant she’d likely reject other human organs.
“It’s like a new beginning,” she told the outlet at the time. “The energy I had was amazing. To have a working kidney — and to feel it — is unbelievable.”
“You don’t know if it’s going to work or not until you try,” she admitted.
The AP stated that scientists are “genetically altering pigs so their organs are more humanlike” because there is a shortage of organ donations. The outlet added that more than 100,000 people remain on the U.S. transplant list, many of whom are waiting for a kidney.
Around 5,600 Americans die every year waiting for a human organ to become available, according to USA Today.
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