# First successful kidney transplant donor has passed away **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 29, 2010, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-successful-kidney-transplant-donor-has-passed-away/565712 "2010-12-29T16:33:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![fuzzypickles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9d8465/32.png) [@fuzzypickles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fuzzypickles)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-successful-kidney-transplant-donor-has-passed-away/565712/1 "2010-12-29T16:33:49Z")
From Yahoo News: > [@](#): > > AUGUSTA, Maine – A man who donated a kidney to his dying twin brother 56 years ago in what’s recognized as the world’s first successful organ transplant has died. > > Ronald Lee Herrick died Monday at the Augusta Rehabilitation Center in Maine. He was 79. His wife, Cynthia, said his health deteriorated after undergoing heart surgery in October. > > Herrick donated a kidney to his twin brother, Richard, at what is now Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Because they were identical twins, there was no problem with rejection. The United Network for Organ Sharing says it was the first successful organ transplant. > > The operation on Dec. 23, 1954, kept Herrick’s brother alive for eight years. Lead surgeon Dr. Joseph Murray went on to win a Nobel Prize. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-successful-kidney-transplant-donor-has-passed-away/565712/2 "2010-12-29T18:20:24Z")
So the operation was a success but… ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-successful-kidney-transplant-donor-has-passed-away/565712/3 "2010-12-29T20:41:39Z")
I don’t see anything in the article that would lead me to see a connection between his kidney donation and his death. ---
**Author:** ![fuzzypickles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9d8465/32.png) [@fuzzypickles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fuzzypickles)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-successful-kidney-transplant-donor-has-passed-away/565712/4 "2010-12-30T02:11:41Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > I don’t see anything in the article that would lead me to see a connection between his kidney donation and his death. 😕 There isn’t any connection, it’s just an obit about a man who gave his twin brother a few extra years of life, via a surgical operation which, at the time, was extremely risky and experimental. I just thought it was a cool little story, that’s all. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-successful-kidney-transplant-donor-has-passed-away/565712/5 "2010-12-30T03:06:08Z")
So much whooshing in such a small space. I think my ears just popped. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2010, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-successful-kidney-transplant-donor-has-passed-away/565712/6 "2010-12-31T14:52:12Z")
So, the moral of the story is to never, ever donate a kidney? \*ducks