Richard J. Herrick (June 15, 1931 – March 14, 1963) was the world's first recipient of a successful human organ transplant. Herrick was diagnosed with Kidney Disease and was given little time to live. He received a kidney from his identical twin brother Ronald in an operation performed by

Joseph Murray Joseph Edward Murray (April 1, 1919 – November 26, 2012) was an American plastic surgeon who performed the first successful human kidney transplant on identical twins Richard and Ronald Herrick on December 23, 1954. Murray shared the ...

, Hartwell Harrison and Joseph Merrill in 1954. Herrick, age 23, was told of a Harvard Medical School professor experimenting with the idea of transplanting healthy organs into those whose organs had failed. On December 23, 1954 the surgery was done giving Richard one of Ronald's kidneys. After surgery he lived for 8 more years.

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1931 births 1963 deaths Kidney transplant recipients American twins {{US-bio-stub