Three patients across three different states have new kidneys as a result of a six-person exchange that took place in December. The transplants happened in Connecticut, Ohio and Maine, and the results were announced at press conferences in all three states on Thursday.
At Yale New Haven Hospital, 23 year old Danbury, Connecticut resident Ryan DaSilva spoke to the press about having suffered kidney failure at age two and a half after eating a hamburger contaminated with e-coli. He’s had two kidney transplants previously, but was in need of a new one. DaSilva’s father wanted to be a donor, but wasn’t a match. Doctor Richard Formica of the Yale Paired Kidney Exchange Team says that’s where the swap works.