| When Nobel laureate winner, Joseph E. Murray, M.D., and his colleagues transplanted a kidney from Ronald Herrick into his identical twin, Richard, on December 23, 1954, they were exploring virgin territory. It was the first time an organ from one individual had ever been successfully transplanted into another.
More than 53 years and some 400,000 transplants later, organ transplants have evolved from experimental procedure to common therapy for many serious conditions.
Medical advancements have had a profound influence on the success rate of organ transplants, with the introduction of Cyclosporin (a drug that effectively treats rejection) being one of the most significant. Prior to the launch of this drug in 1983, transplants of organs other than kidneys were relatively uncommon. After its introduction the number of transplants performed as well as the number of transplant centers in the United States soared.
Yet despite the technological advances, transplantation still relies on each of us sharing the gift of life. Just like Ronald Herrick in 1954, it boils down to one person making one decision.
Today nearly 100,000 men, women and children are waiting for organs that may never come in time.
In the greater New York metropolitan area, the area served by the New York Organ Donor Network, nearly 7,000 people wait today. Yet many of their lives will be saved or enhanced because of donors...donors like you.
The transplant community is working towards the day when donation rates keep pace with the advancements in technology, and everyone who needs an organ will get one. That is the vision of the New York Organ Donor Network. We hope you share it with us.
Now read the interview with Dr. Murray, conducted by the New York Organ Donor Network’s communications director, Martin Woolf, in 2003.
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