Tim Andrews became only the second person known to be living with a pig kidney. The surgeons at Massachusetts General Hospital transplanted a genetically modified kidney from a pig into 66-year-old Andrews.

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The surgery emerged as a groundbreaking step in the area of Xenotransplantation, which means transplanting organs from one species to another. The science behind animal-to-human transplantation aims at easing the shortage of donated human organs. 

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Massachusetts General Hospital announced Friday that Andrews is free from dialysis and is on the path of recovery from the transplant that happened on January 25, The Associated Press reported. He reportedly left the hospital a week later.

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Andrews told AP, "When I woke up in the recovery room, I was a new man."

"As soon as I woke up after the surgery, the cloud of dialysis disappeared. I felt re-energized and revitalized. It was a miracle."

His doctors said that his scheduled press conference on Friday was cancelled after he had irregular blood sugar readings and was not feeling well enough to attend. 

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'This is uncharted territory' 

Andrews is just one of two persons surviving with a pig kidney. He is the fourth live recipient in history. The first four pig organ transplants — two hearts and two kidneys — were short-lived. 

The first recipient of a gene-edited pig kidney died from cardiac causes within two months. Notably, there was no evidence of xenograft rejection.

While reacting to the same, Tatsuo Kawai, MD, PhD, of the Transplant Center at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and colleagues in the New England Journal of Medicineopens, wrote, "There was no evidence of acute myocardial infarction, pulmonary embolism, pneumonia, inflammation in other organs, or drug toxicity."

"We concluded that the patient had probable sudden cardiac death caused by dysrhythmia in the context of severe ischemic cardiomyopathy," they added. 

However, the fifth xenotransplant recipient woman was not nearly as sick as prior patients, thriving for now 2.5 months after a pig kidney transplant at NYU Langone Health in November. 

Kawai also led Andrews' surgery. As quoted by AP, he said, "This is uncharted territory. I'm very optimistic. And hopefully, we can get to survival, kidney survival, for over two years." 

(With inputs from agencies)