Penn patients “forever grateful” as hospital celebrates 6 decades of organ transplants
By Stephanie Stahl
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PHILADELPHIA (KYW) — Penn Medicine celebrated six decades of organ transplants Tuesday at the Smilow Center for Translational Research in University City.
Penn’s first successful transplant was a kidney back in 1966. Since then, there have been thousands of life-saving operations, including one that allowed the dream of motherhood to come true.
One-year-old Rome is the baby his parents never thought they would have. His mom, Stephanie Collado, was born without a uterus.
Two years ago, she had a uterus transplant at Penn.
“It’s amazing,” she said. “It’s a dream come true. But not only that I have a baby, but I got part of my future back.”
Collado and her family were back at Penn to be part of the 60th anniversary of the transplant institute Tuesday.
Since 1966, Penn has performed more than 15,000 solid organ transplant procedures, becoming a leader in the field.
Mike Marinelli, a South Jersey former firefighter, was just 34 when he had the first of two lung transplants at Penn.
“I got to walk my daughter down the aisle, I got to see four grandkids grow up,” Marinelli said. “I’m incredibly grateful and forever grateful.”
Marinelli still has the transplanted lung from over 30 years ago.
“Since our first lung transplant at the Hospital of University of Pennsylvania in 1991, we have actually done 1,683 lung transplants,” Brooke McDonnell, the CAO of the Penn Transplant Institute, said.
The first uterus transplant at Penn was in 2018. Since then, Collado is one of six women who’ve had the operation.
Collado’s transplant came from a living donor, and she said she’s planning on trying to have another baby.
“It’s groundbreaking,” Collado said. “No one else is doing this, just a few hospitals in this country. The fact that Penn is daring and willing to go beyond the norm and do this and make people’s dreams come true. I’m just happy to be a part of it.”
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