03/25/2026
Olivia McDonough was only 26 years old and newly married when she found out she was facing kidney failure at a rapid pace. The year was 1974, and her doctors told her she would need a kidney transplant, imminently. “I was so scared,” Olivia remembers. “I felt rudderless, having no fellow transplant patients to talk to about my deteriorating health and what to expect.”
Now, more than 51 years later, under the care of Leonardo Riella, MD, PhD, medical director of kidney transplantation at Mass General Brigham, associate director of the Legorreta Center for Clinical Transplant Tolerance and the Harold and Ellen Danser Endowed Chair in Transplantation, Olivia is the longest living transplant patient at Mass General.
Today, her transplanted kidney, donated by her mother, is 103 years old. And as an active advocate for the transplant community, Olivia serves as a reassuring resource for new transplant patients—a resource that she so desperately needed as a terrified young person. “When I meet new transplant patients, I try to remind them that sometimes emotions post-transplant can be overwhelming, but finding joy and purpose in life can mitigate these feelings,” Olivia says. “Thinking of small and achievable daily goals was so helpful for me as I healed.”
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