This list of notable organ transplant donors and recipients includes people who were the first to undergo certain organ transplant procedures or were people who made significant contributions to their chosen field and who have either donated or received an
organ transplant at some point in their lives, as confirmed by public information.
Survival statistics
Survival statistics depend greatly on the age of donor, age of recipient, skill of the transplant center, compliance of the recipient, whether the organ came from a living or deceased donor and overall health of the recipient. Median survival rates can be quite misleading, especially for the relatively small sample that is available for these organs. Survival rates improve almost yearly, due to improved techniques and medications. This example is from the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS), the USA umbrella organization for transplant centers. Up-to-date data can be obtained from the UNOS website.
Dinoire's body rejected the transplant in 2015 and she lost part of the use of her lips. The daily immunosuppressive drugs she was required to take left her vulnerable to cancer which later claimed her life.
Actor. He suffered from
keratoconus, a degenerative eye disease, in the mid-1990s. This led to two corneal transplants; his right cornea in 1997, and his left in 1998.
Film Director. Announced the transplant at the
78th Academy Awards in 2005 while accepting his Lifetime Achievement Oscar. Altman said, "I'm here under false pretenses … Eleven years ago I had a heart transplant, a total heart transplant. I got the heart of, I think, a young woman who was in about in her late thirties. By that kind of calculation you may be giving this award too early because I think I've got about 40 years left."
41st
Governor of Pennsylvania. Announced that he needed a rare heart/liver transplant due to a rare genetic condition in which proteins invade and destroy major bodily organs. Shortly after the announcement, Casey received the heart and liver from a 35-year-old
African-American male who was killed in an auto accident near
Erie, Pennsylvania. The short time between the announcement and the operation lead to accusations that Casey was secretly placed on the top of the waiting list, along with sparking an
urban legend that the donor was "killed" by the
Pennsylvania State Police in order to "harvest" the organs.
Author and noted world-class mountain climber who has set world records as the first ever heart transplant recipient to scale the most famous mountains in the world.
American entrepreneur famous for his race car driving and automotive developments in designing the cult-classic Shelby Cobras and Ford's Shelby Mustang. Carroll Shelby received a heart transplant in 1990, then in 1996, a living donor kidney transplant from his son. Carroll died May 10, 2012, at the age of 89.
Comedian. Diagnosed with
polycystic kidney disease. She was on the transplant list prior to her diagnosis with breast cancer, and was removed from the list while being treated as is standard procedure. She was placed back on the list after her treatment was completed, and died from complications of the transplant surgery.
Fashion critic and member of Entertainment Tonight. In November 2004 he announced that he was suffering from
polycystic kidney disease and would require a
kidney transplant. He underwent transplant surgery on January 14, 2005, after his friend Abby Finer donated one of her kidneys. Later, the kidney became infected by a virus, and in June 2005 he underwent a second operation to have the new kidney removed. On August 17, he announced that his body was free of the viral infection and that he was ready to find a new transplant. He then received a second kidney transplant, which was donated by his mother.
Croatian international
footballer. After kidney failure in late 2006, he underwent an unsuccessful transplant in January 2007, followed by a successful one from his father two months later. He returned to action with
Werder Bremen in November, and played at
Euro 2008, becoming the first kidney transplant patient to play in a major football finals.
New ZealandAll Blacksrugby union player. The kidney was donated by Wellington radio presenter Grant Kereama. Lomu came back to professional rugby in 2005, though not with his past success.
NBA basketball star. Like Elliott, Mourning returned to play in the NBA following his surgery; he retired in January 2009, not having played since 2007 due to a serious leg injury.
Professional snowboarder who received a liver transplant to treat
primary sclerosing cholangitis. Went on to compete in the
2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. This was the first, and so far only time, a transplantee had competed in the Olympics, either the Winter or Summer Olympics.
A
stuntperson, best known for his public displays of long distance, high-altitude
motorcycle jumping. He had a liver transplant as a result of hepatitis C, which he believed was contracted during an operation.
A
pornographic actress, most notable for the movie Deep Throat (1972). She contracted hepatitis C from a blood transfusion after an automobile accident in 1969.
^"History of pancreas transplantation", by Dr. David E. R. Sutherland and Dr. Carl G. Groth, in Pancreas, Islet and Stem Cell Transplantation for Diabetes (Oxford University Press, 2010) p1
^"Both Kidney and Pancreas Transplanted Into Woman", Corpus Christi (TX) Caller-Times, March 1, 1967, p2
^"Transplant Success", UPI report in The Raleigh Register (Beckley, WV), May 31, 1967, p3
^Horn, Barry (2007-10-17).
"Former Cowboys running back Ron Springs in coma". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 2008-10-29. Less than 8 months after his transplant, on October 13, 2007, Springs checked into a
Dallas hospital for what appeared to be a routine procedure to remove a cyst from his arm. He went into a coma during the operation, and as of October 2008 has not regained consciousness.
^Barovick, Harriet; Gray, Tam; Lofaro, Lina; Levy, Daniel; Orecklin, Michele; Tartakovsky, Flora (1999-02-01).
"Milestones". TIME Magazine. Archived from
the original on April 8, 2008. Retrieved 2006-10-04.
^Gatta, John Patrick (2001-04-18).
"New Lesh On Life". Pittsburgh City Paper. Archived from
the original on 2006-12-02. Retrieved 2006-10-04.
^Briggs, Joe Bob (2002-04-25).
"Linda's Life". National Review Online. Retrieved 2006-10-04.
This list of notable organ transplant donors and recipients includes people who were the first to undergo certain organ transplant procedures or were people who made significant contributions to their chosen field and who have either donated or received an
organ transplant at some point in their lives, as confirmed by public information.
Survival statistics
Survival statistics depend greatly on the age of donor, age of recipient, skill of the transplant center, compliance of the recipient, whether the organ came from a living or deceased donor and overall health of the recipient. Median survival rates can be quite misleading, especially for the relatively small sample that is available for these organs. Survival rates improve almost yearly, due to improved techniques and medications. This example is from the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS), the USA umbrella organization for transplant centers. Up-to-date data can be obtained from the UNOS website.
Dinoire's body rejected the transplant in 2015 and she lost part of the use of her lips. The daily immunosuppressive drugs she was required to take left her vulnerable to cancer which later claimed her life.
Actor. He suffered from
keratoconus, a degenerative eye disease, in the mid-1990s. This led to two corneal transplants; his right cornea in 1997, and his left in 1998.
Film Director. Announced the transplant at the
78th Academy Awards in 2005 while accepting his Lifetime Achievement Oscar. Altman said, "I'm here under false pretenses … Eleven years ago I had a heart transplant, a total heart transplant. I got the heart of, I think, a young woman who was in about in her late thirties. By that kind of calculation you may be giving this award too early because I think I've got about 40 years left."
41st
Governor of Pennsylvania. Announced that he needed a rare heart/liver transplant due to a rare genetic condition in which proteins invade and destroy major bodily organs. Shortly after the announcement, Casey received the heart and liver from a 35-year-old
African-American male who was killed in an auto accident near
Erie, Pennsylvania. The short time between the announcement and the operation lead to accusations that Casey was secretly placed on the top of the waiting list, along with sparking an
urban legend that the donor was "killed" by the
Pennsylvania State Police in order to "harvest" the organs.
Author and noted world-class mountain climber who has set world records as the first ever heart transplant recipient to scale the most famous mountains in the world.
American entrepreneur famous for his race car driving and automotive developments in designing the cult-classic Shelby Cobras and Ford's Shelby Mustang. Carroll Shelby received a heart transplant in 1990, then in 1996, a living donor kidney transplant from his son. Carroll died May 10, 2012, at the age of 89.
Comedian. Diagnosed with
polycystic kidney disease. She was on the transplant list prior to her diagnosis with breast cancer, and was removed from the list while being treated as is standard procedure. She was placed back on the list after her treatment was completed, and died from complications of the transplant surgery.
Fashion critic and member of Entertainment Tonight. In November 2004 he announced that he was suffering from
polycystic kidney disease and would require a
kidney transplant. He underwent transplant surgery on January 14, 2005, after his friend Abby Finer donated one of her kidneys. Later, the kidney became infected by a virus, and in June 2005 he underwent a second operation to have the new kidney removed. On August 17, he announced that his body was free of the viral infection and that he was ready to find a new transplant. He then received a second kidney transplant, which was donated by his mother.
Croatian international
footballer. After kidney failure in late 2006, he underwent an unsuccessful transplant in January 2007, followed by a successful one from his father two months later. He returned to action with
Werder Bremen in November, and played at
Euro 2008, becoming the first kidney transplant patient to play in a major football finals.
New ZealandAll Blacksrugby union player. The kidney was donated by Wellington radio presenter Grant Kereama. Lomu came back to professional rugby in 2005, though not with his past success.
NBA basketball star. Like Elliott, Mourning returned to play in the NBA following his surgery; he retired in January 2009, not having played since 2007 due to a serious leg injury.
Professional snowboarder who received a liver transplant to treat
primary sclerosing cholangitis. Went on to compete in the
2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. This was the first, and so far only time, a transplantee had competed in the Olympics, either the Winter or Summer Olympics.
A
stuntperson, best known for his public displays of long distance, high-altitude
motorcycle jumping. He had a liver transplant as a result of hepatitis C, which he believed was contracted during an operation.
A
pornographic actress, most notable for the movie Deep Throat (1972). She contracted hepatitis C from a blood transfusion after an automobile accident in 1969.
^"History of pancreas transplantation", by Dr. David E. R. Sutherland and Dr. Carl G. Groth, in Pancreas, Islet and Stem Cell Transplantation for Diabetes (Oxford University Press, 2010) p1
^"Both Kidney and Pancreas Transplanted Into Woman", Corpus Christi (TX) Caller-Times, March 1, 1967, p2
^"Transplant Success", UPI report in The Raleigh Register (Beckley, WV), May 31, 1967, p3
^Horn, Barry (2007-10-17).
"Former Cowboys running back Ron Springs in coma". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 2008-10-29. Less than 8 months after his transplant, on October 13, 2007, Springs checked into a
Dallas hospital for what appeared to be a routine procedure to remove a cyst from his arm. He went into a coma during the operation, and as of October 2008 has not regained consciousness.
^Barovick, Harriet; Gray, Tam; Lofaro, Lina; Levy, Daniel; Orecklin, Michele; Tartakovsky, Flora (1999-02-01).
"Milestones". TIME Magazine. Archived from
the original on April 8, 2008. Retrieved 2006-10-04.
^Gatta, John Patrick (2001-04-18).
"New Lesh On Life". Pittsburgh City Paper. Archived from
the original on 2006-12-02. Retrieved 2006-10-04.
^Briggs, Joe Bob (2002-04-25).
"Linda's Life". National Review Online. Retrieved 2006-10-04.