Ray Vetuskey, 64, marks ‘100th birthday’ of kidney his mother donated at 52 when he was 16; transplant has lasted far beyond 15-20 years, with doctors expecting it to last for life
For Ray Vetuskey, a kidney is more than an organ. It is a lifelong reminder of his mother.Vetuskey was only 16 when kidney failure changed his life in 1978. When dialysis failed and doctors told his family that a transplant was his only remaining option, his mother, Betty, stepped forward without hesitation.Nearly five decades later, the kidney she donated is still working, and Vetuskey is celebrating what would have been his mother’s 100th birthday by honouring the extraordinary longevity of her gift.
A mother’s gift that lasted decades
Betty was 52 when she donated one of her kidneys to her teenage son. Vetuskey, who is now 64 and lives in the Rochester, New York, area, remembers her as a woman who never questioned whether she should help him.“I don’t think she gave it two thoughts,” he told NBC affiliate WHEC. “Anything she could do to help her son, I think she would have done anything — which she did in my eyes.”The transplant was performed in March 1978 at University of Rochester Medicine’s Strong Memorial Hospital.Betty died in 2008, but she would have turned 100 in June. Her milestone has taken on special meaning for Vetuskey because the kidney she donated continues to function inside him.
A kidney that defied the odds
Vetuskey received his mother Betty’s kidney in 1978 after being diagnosed with kidney failure at 16. (Photo: The Vetuskey Family)
The University of Rochester says the average donated kidney survives for around 15 to 20 years. Vetuskey’s transplant has lasted far beyond that range, making him the institution’s longest-surviving kidney transplant recipient.He still returns to the hospital once a year for routine monitoring.Doctors say the transplanted kidney is functioning so well that they expect it to continue working for the rest of his life.Miklos Z. Molnar, MD, PhD, director of Transplant Medical Services at the URochester Medicine Transplant Institute, described the case as exceptionally unusual.“It’s amazing to see him thriving with a kidney that is functioning so well after 100 years,” Molnar said in a University of Rochester statement. “It is a rare situation — definitely something we don’t see every day.”
He kept a promise to his mother
Ray Vetuskey still visits Strong Memorial Hospital annually, where doctors expect the kidney to continue functioning for life. (Photo: The Vetuskey Family)
Vetuskey still remembers the emotional moments before the transplant.He and his mother were lying on separate gurneys, holding hands, when Betty began to cry. Trying to reassure her, her teenage son told her he had something important to get back to.“We were both on the gurneys, holding hands and mom was crying and [I] said, ‘Don’t worry about a thing because I got a concert to go to and I’m not going to miss it,’” he recalled.He kept his word.Just three weeks after the operation, Vetuskey attended Genesis’ concert at the Rochester Community War Memorial on March 30, 1978.He has kept the ticket stubs from that night as a memento of the life-changing period.
‘She’s right by my side’
Although Betty has been gone since 2008, Vetuskey says her memory remains part of his everyday life.“Every day I think of her, doesn’t a day go by,” he told WHEC. “She’s right by my side, all the time.”He has also honoured her by having a star named after her.“She’s in the national star registry for all of eternity, she’s in the heavens,” Vetuskey said.The kidney his mother donated has now been with him for almost 48 years, making it an extraordinary medical milestone – but for Vetuskey, it remains something more personal: a part of his mother that has accompanied him through nearly an entire lifetime.
