![\"Ray](\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-134627146,imgsize-83722,width-400,height-225,resizemode-4\/ray-vetuskey-64-is-celebrating-the-100th-birthday-of-the-kidney-his-mother-donated-when-he-was-a-teenager.jpg\" "\\"Ray")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nFor 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\u2019s 100th birthday by honouring the extraordinary longevity of her gift.<\/p>\n 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.\u201cI don\u2019t think she gave it two thoughts,\u201d he told NBC affiliate WHEC. \u201cAnything she could do to help her son, I think she would have done anything \u2014 which she did in my eyes.\u201dThe transplant was performed in March 1978 at University of Rochester Medicine\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n Vetuskey received his mother Betty\u2019s kidney in 1978 after being diagnosed with kidney failure at 16. (Photo: The Vetuskey Family)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The University of Rochester says the average donated kidney survives for around 15 to 20 years. Vetuskey\u2019s transplant has lasted far beyond that range, making him the institution\u2019s 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.\u201cIt\u2019s amazing to see him thriving with a kidney that is functioning so well after 100 years,\u201d Molnar said in a University of Rochester statement. \u201cIt is a rare situation \u2014 definitely something we don\u2019t see every day.\u201d<\/p>\n Ray Vetuskey still visits Strong Memorial Hospital annually, where doctors expect the kidney to continue functioning for life. (Photo: The Vetuskey Family)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n 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.\u201cWe were both on the gurneys, holding hands and mom was crying and [I] said, \u2018Don\u2019t worry about a thing because I got a concert to go to and I\u2019m not going to miss it,\u2019\u201d he recalled.He kept his word.Just three weeks after the operation, Vetuskey attended Genesis\u2019 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.<\/p>\n Although Betty has been gone since 2008, Vetuskey says her memory remains part of his everyday life.\u201cEvery day I think of her, doesn\u2019t a day go by,\u201d he told WHEC. \u201cShe\u2019s right by my side, all the time.\u201dHe has also honoured her by having a star named after her.\u201cShe\u2019s in the national star registry for all of eternity, she\u2019s in the heavens,\u201d 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.<\/div>\n Ray Vetuskey, 64, is celebrating the 100th birthday of the kidney his mother donated when he was a teenager. (Photo: University of Rochester Medicine\/The Vetuskey Family) 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. 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(Photo: University of Rochester Medicine\/The Vetuskey Family) 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. […]","magazineBlocksPostCategories":["\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36 \u0b2c\u0b3f\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36"],"magazineBlocksPostViewCount":1,"magazineBlocksPostReadTime":4,"magazine_blocks_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/ray-vetuskey-64-is-celebrating-the-100th-birthday-of-the-kidney-his-mother-donated-when-he-was-a-tee.avif",400,225,false],"medium":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/ray-vetuskey-64-is-celebrating-the-100th-birthday-of-the-kidney-his-mother-donated-when-he-was-a-tee-300x169.avif",300,169,true],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/ray-vetuskey-64-is-celebrating-the-100th-birthday-of-the-kidney-his-mother-donated-when-he-was-a-tee-150x150.avif",150,150,true]},"magazine_blocks_author":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/author\/admin"},"magazine_blocks_comment":0,"magazine_blocks_author_image":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8709732a479614e7a8aa24d3eb1b239f30dc6d90c61464ed495001e7a469d856?s=96&d=mm&r=g","magazine_blocks_category":"\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36 \u0b2c\u0b3f\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36<\/a>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31336"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31336\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/31337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}A mother\u2019s gift that lasted decades<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
A kidney that defied the odds<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
![\"Vetuskey](\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/photo\/imgsize-1581444,msid-134627152\/vetuskey-received-his-mother-bettys-kidney-in-1978-after-being-diagnosed-with-kidney-failure-at-16.jpg\" "\\"Vetuskey")
<\/p>\nHe kept a promise to his mother<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
![\"Ray](\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/photo\/imgsize-765919,msid-134627153\/ray-vetuskey-still-visits-strong-memorial-hospital-annually-where-doctors-expect-the-kidney-to-continue-functioning-for-life.jpg\" "\\"Ray")
<\/p>\n\u2018She\u2019s right by my side\u2019<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"