Macy Brown, 17-Year-Old Combined Heart And Kidney Recipient, Makes Medical History

Missouri Teen Receives State’s First Combined heart And kidney transplant

USA: Inside St. Louis children’s Hospital, 17-year-old Macy Brown has returned home after receiving a rare combined heart and kidney transplant that marks the first procedure of its kind performed in Missouri. Macy, who has spent much of her life in and out of hospitals, now has a new heart and kidney after multiple previous cardiac procedures and a recent failure that left her kidneys compromised. The operation required coordinated work across surgical teams, the ICU, nursing staff, and hospital leadership.

Macy’s medical history is notable: born with only one functional side of her heart, she underwent her first heart transplant at nine weeks old. Seventeen years later she received another heart; when that organ failed within weeks and her renal function deteriorated, clinicians determined a combined transplant was the only viable path. Surgeons and transplant teams from Washington University and the hospital orchestrated the operation, arranging for both organs to come from the same donor to optimize outcomes.

Washington University pediatric cardiologist Justin Berger and the multidisciplinary teams emphasized the complexity and rarity of the case, noting that most centers encounter only a handful of such combined procedures. The donor family’s decision to provide both organs made the surgery possible; physicians and nurses credited that gift with returning Macy to daily life, school, and a renewed future. The recovery in the hospital ICU moved staff to emotion as Macy walked through the hospital doors greeted by the team that never gave up on her.

Macy will continue routine follow-up visits at the children’s hospital as her recovery progresses. Her resilience and gratitude were evident as she described renewed energy, the ability to spend time with friends without overwhelming fatigue, and an aspiration to pursue nursing inspired by the teams who saved her life. The case stands as a demonstration of coordinated transplant care and the impact of organ donation on a young patient’s life.