AUSTIN, Texas — Doctors from the University of Texas at Austin and its clinical partner, Ascension Seton, performed the first kidney transplant at the collaborative Adult Abdominal Transplant Center this week. The Transplant Center is a program at Dell Seton Medical Center that diagnoses, treats and manages the care of adult patients in need of a kidney as well as kidney donors.
The inaugural transplant was performed on 22-year-old Dom Rainelli. During the summer of 2021, he learned that he had a devastating kidney disease and needed a transplant as soon as possible. He was a senior in college at the time.
His cousin, Kayla Wright, a U.S. Army intelligence officer, turned out to be a match. Wright said it was "no question" to donate her kidney to Rainelli, and that it was an honor to save her cousin's life.
Last week, the cousins underwent two successive surgeries, where Wright's left kidney was successfully removed and implanted alongside Rainelli's failing one.
“It took incredible vision, leadership and teamwork by our hospital and medical school leaders and clinical teams to perform our first living donor transplant,” said Nicole Turgeon, M.D., transplant director for the Adult Abdominal Transplant Center and professor in the Department of Surgery and Perioperative Care at Dell Med.
Established in November 2021, the center is the latest organ transplant program to offer Central Texans care that's closer to home. More than 72,000 Texans are living with end-stage renal disease or kidney failure.
“We are excited to be a center that treats the needs of Central Texans, and we look forward to delivering convenient and innovative transplant care to our community,” said Turgeon.
Dom's mother, Jamie Rainelli, is an office manager at the university's Office of Student Affairs, making this a monumental transplant not only for the families, but for the UT Austin community as well.
“When I saw an email saying UT Health Austin was beginning kidney transplantation last November, I thought, ‘How can I get him down here to get this done at UT?’” said Jamie. “It was definitely a 'God thing.'"
Both Rainelli and Wright have been discharged from the hospital. Rainelli will remain in Austin to recover and is expected to graduate from college in May.
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