Jubilee celebration of first kidney transplant in NSW, Australia.
In August of 2015 I had the pleasure of being a guest speaker at the 50th Anniversary of Kidney Transplantation in New South Wales, Australia. This first kidney transplant operation was performed 50 years ago at Prince Henry Hospital by a team led by Professor Joe Murnaghan (a urologist) and Dr Doug Tracy (a vascular surgeon). The Prince Henry Hospital is now gone and has been replaced by the Prince of Wales Hospital, the teaching hospital of the University of New South Wales. The Jubilee celebration, organised by Professor Zoltan Endre and Professor Bruce Pussell over 2 days was outstanding, as many of the participants in the first transplant were still alive and made presentations. The first day of the meeting comprised presentations by kidney transplant recipients, donors, and staff including a description of the first transplant by Dr David Jeremy who was Medical Director of the Renal Unit and Dr. Bob Farnsworth who was Director of Surgery at the time. The recipient of the first transplant survived 31 years with that cadaver kidney! Many of the patients spoke and all in all it was a very enjoyable day. The second day was a Clinical and Scientific Symposium which again was made up of many outstanding contributions. It was a splendid two days which I and the large audience attending enjoyed thoroughly. A banquet at the old Prince Henry’s Hospital (now a hospitality centre) took place on the final night and this wound up the Jubilee celebration with appropriate splendour and conviviality.
