Cell 2 Soul: The Humane Health Care Blog

Modern Medicine

 

Nightingale Twins

Dr. Murray with Twins in 2010 & Joanna in 1960

"In December 1955, 7-year-old Johanna Nightingale had become very ill with a Streptococcus pyogenes throat infection, which soon affected her kidneys, causing acute glomerulonephritis and then chronic kidney disease. Dialysis did not yet exist, and the next 5 years of Johanna's childhood revolved around the hospital. Johanna was extremely small, weak, and prone to sickness. She spent at least 3 weeks of every month in the hospital, receiving supportive care. In 1960, one of Johanna's doctors in Winnipeg read that Boston's Dr. Joseph Murray was performing kidney transplantations and immediately wrote to him about Johanna's case. Murray responded, saying that as a patient with renal failure who happened to have a healthy identical twin, Johanna sounded like a perfect candidate for transplantation.

In May of 2011, the 63-year-old identical twins made the trip from Alberta, Canada to Boston to meet with the Nobel-honored surgeon who pioneered the field of human organ transplantation. The twins were 12 years old at the time that Lana donated her kidney to Johanna. Today, Johanna is the longest surviving kidney-transplant recipient.'

This is an inspirational article fron the New England Journal of Medicine. Download Nightingale Twins