139: Dark History: Half Man… Half Pig?! The Bloody Truth Behind Organ Transplants 47:34

You know that one good tank top that you wear like all year round? I mean it fits you just right so you wear it all the time but maybe now it's getting a little old. Shifting my wardrobe from summer to fall is always a challenge. Luckily, Quince offers timeless and high quality items that I

I love so I can make sure my wardrobe stays fresh and I don't blow my budget. They've got cashmere sweaters from $50, pants for every occasion, washable silk tops. And my favorite part, all Quince items are priced 50 to 80% less than similar brands. By partnering directly with top factories, Quince cuts out the cost of the middleman

and passes the savings on to us. And Quince only works with factories that use safe, ethical, and responsible manufacturing practices and premium fabrics and finishes. I recently got this 100% European linen short sleeve shirt. Ooh, I love linen. And you know, it was so comfortable, so cute. I can finally retire my old ratty tank top.

RIP. Make switching seasons a breeze with Quince's high quality closet essentials. Go to quince.com slash dark history for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. That's quince, Q-U-I-N-C-E dot com slash dark history to get free shipping and 365 day returns. quince.com slash dark history.

This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Most of you listening right now are probably multitasking. Yep, while you're listening to me talk, you're probably also driving, cleaning, exercising, or maybe even grocery shopping. But if you're not in some kind of moving vehicle, there's something else you could be doing right now. Getting an auto quote from Progressive Insurance.

It's easy and you can save money by doing it from your phone. Drivers who save by switching to Progressive save nearly $750 on average. And auto customers qualify for an average of seven discounts. Discounts for having multiple vehicles on your policy, being a homeowner and more.

So just like your favorite podcast, Progressive will be with you 24-7, 365 days a year, so you're protected no matter what. Multitask right now. Quote your car insurance at Progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive.

So I read this wild story the other day at like 3 in the morning. It was about this woman named Claire Sylvia. Now Claire, she was having some major heart issues, so she had to get a heart transplant. This is my prop.

Thank you. The transplant was successful, but I guess as soon as Claire woke up, she felt something was off. She had like, I guess all of a sudden this overwhelming desire for beer. I mean, it's not that weird, but like it was weird for her because Claire had, she never cared about beer before this. She wasn't even much of a drinker, but it didn't end there. Claire was also dying to get her hands on some chicken McNuggets.

Again, I'm like, what's the problem? No, but like Claire, I guess was very, she was very healthy, never ate fast food, especially not McDonald's. So it was like, what the hell is going on? Like what happened to Claire? Well, after some digging, she found out who her donor was. And maybe you guessed it, the donor was obsessed with beer and chicken nuggets.

And the more Claire found out about him, the more she realized that like she had taken on a lot of his personality. I was like, ooh, weird. I mean, does this happen to everyone who gets an organ transplant? And I'm hearing that they're putting pig hearts in people now. And so it's like, are we going to start acting like pigs? Maybe, I don't know. So many questions. And today we are going to answer them. Welcome to the dark history of organ transplants. Okay.

Buckle up. It's going to get a little weird. Hi, friends. I hope you're having a wonderful day today. My name is Bailey Sarian, and I'd like to welcome you to my podcast, Dark History. Hi.

Here, we believe history does not have to be boring. Yeah, it's tragic a lot of times. Sometimes it's happy, but either way, it's our dark history. Before we get into it, don't forget to like and subscribe. Hello, I come out with that hot, juicy history goss every week. And let me know what you think down below in the comments section because I love hearing from you. Speaking of that, I respond directly to your comments at the end of every episode. So stick around because maybe I'm talking to you and you missed it.

All right, now let's get into it. Organ transplants. This is a heart. If you're listening on the podcast, I am holding a heart.

It's been given to me as a prop and I don't know what to do with it. Hi, just popping in here really quick. Ignore my face. I just wanted to let you know that we will have a new episode of Dark History on August 7th, wherever you listen to podcasts. And on YouTube, it'll be available August 8th. We're just going to be gone for one week. Don't miss us too much, okay? We need to do some further research on an episode. Thank you so much. Now let's get back to the story.

Let's talk about organ transplants because they are actually way older than we realize. In the year 1550 BC, the first rumor transplant was written down into history. It was actually called the Miracle of the Black Leg. In the story, the Christian patron saints of medicine and surgery

Saint Cosmas and Saint Damian, performed leg surgery on a Roman deacon. This deacon had cancer in one of his legs, so the Christian saints removed his leg and sewed on the leg of an Ethiopian man who had recently died. Now there's a lot of controversy surrounding this story because many believe it's actually not true.

But either way, it actually inspired generations of doctors to get creative with organ transplants. In 1817, a French physician named Henri Dutrochet wrote a letter to a French medical journal about an interesting procedure he was told about. Apparently over in India, a soldier in the army had been very naughty. So naughty that he was given the punishment of having his nose cut off.

So the soldier was of course mortified. So he went to an Indian surgeon in the area to surgically reconstruct his nose. Maybe you remember, but we did talk about this procedure briefly in our plastic surgery episode, remember? I'll link it down below if you wanna watch. Anyways, but the soldier told the medical team to do whatever they had to do to fix his nose. So the medical team told him to turn around

and drop his pants. And it sounds like a joke, but this is serious. They said, drop your pants. And they decided to get the skin needed for his nose from his butt cheeks. Yeah, apparently he had, you could see a, you know, a full behind, you know? This is their technique. Okay, listen. They start smacking his butt as hard as they could with an old shoe.

And the goal was to have the butt cheeks swell. Okay? Because if they swell, you have more to work with, I guess, you know? It sounds fake, but this is real. This is history. As soon as it was swollen enough, the team took a knife. They cut out like a triangular piece of skin. And then they surgically placed it on the man's nose. So he's really like a butt face. Yeah. Whoa. So they put it on the guy's face and they seal the man's butt nose with plaster. And ta-da!

He was cured. Apparently the man healed so well that he was actually able to return to the army. This story uncovered the incredible medical techniques Indian doctors had been using for hundreds of years. It's just kind of funny to imagine like your butt on your face, but like no one has to know, but we all know. For the rest of the 1800s, most organ transplants were exclusively skin related. Your skin, if you don't know, hi, is the largest organ on your body.

Fun fact. But doctors wanted to take the next step and like go for something bigger. So they went after the kidney.

In 1906, a surgeon named Dr. Matthew Jabule performed the first ever kidney transplant in a human. But there wasn't like a line of people waiting to give up their perfectly good kidney, you know? Everyday people thought the whole idea of organ transplants was really morbid and no one wanted to be a part of it. So the surgeon turned to the animals he had near him. The closest ones he had near him were a pig and a goat. He's like, that's what I got to work with.

with. Pigs and goats, they were already part of the food supply in the area. So there were like a ton of them and they were available. They had nothing on their schedule. So he was like, you know, why not? Let's try this. Dr. Javule put a goat kidney in one person and then he took a pig kidney and put it in the other person or another person. But sadly, both experiments were unsuccessful.

Over the next few years, several surgeons performed over 100 versions of animal to human kidney transplants. They even tried using monkey kidneys, but the patients, unfortunately, they died like right away. In 1933, there was a Ukrainian doctor named Dr. Yuri Voronoi who performed the first successful human to human kidney transplant. Defined successful, you say? Well,

They lived for a few days, you know? A few days is better than nothing. So doctors, you know, they're like, okay, we're on to something though, right? So they kept experimenting until finally it seemed like they had cracked the code. Joan is always on my case to eat more protein. Ah!

I'm always snacking on like Snickers and Kit Kat bars. The mini ones of course, because you know, they're not that bad. But sometimes it can be hard because the closest thing to me is the mini Kit Kat and not something healthy. You know what I'm saying? Like it's just easy. But that's where Hungry Root comes in to save the day. Ooh, I freaking love Hungry Root. I got my delivery yesterday from Hungry Root and it was so good.

oh my god I was like okay I'm into this there were tons of high quality groceries there was snacks and oh my god I got this delicious rice pudding yes I love rice pudding okay it's so good but there was this delicious rice pudding and I inhaled it I'm thinking about it right now and my mouth is watering plus with Hungry Root they make eating healthier easier so put down those Kit Kat minis Bailey

Put them down. They offer all these different protein-focused snack packs that just really hit the spot and are perfect for those midday cravings. Yes. Hungry Root is the easiest way to eat healthy. They send you groceries, delicious recipes, and they even offer essential supplements. I was like, what?

Okay. It's like having someone else do all the planning and shopping for you so you don't even have to think about it. Each order with Hungry Root is fully customizable so you can take their suggestions or choose anything you want. They've got fresh produce. They've got high quality meat and seafood, healthy snacks, smoothies, sweets, vitamins, supplements, and so much more. Everything from Hungry Root follows a simple standard.

It's got to taste good, be quick to make, and contain whole, trusted ingredients. Right now, Hungry Root is offering Dark History listeners 40% off your first delivery and free veggies for life. Just go to HungryRoot.com slash Dark History to get 40% off your first delivery and get your free veggies.

That's HungryRoot.com slash Dark History. Don't forget to use the link so they know we sent you.

In 1954, there was a man named Richard Herrick who was traveling home to Massachusetts. And he was rushing to get there because at just 23 years old, Richard was dying from a rare kidney disease. So he was receiving treatment at a local hospital, but he only seemed to be getting worse. It was kind of looking like there was no hope.

But there was this surgeon, Dr. Joseph Murray, who was a surgeon and professor at Harvard. He heard about his case and he actually got like really excited. Dr. Murray knew Richard would be like the perfect candidate for his kidney transplant theory. You see, Richard had an identical twin brother and Dr. Murray believed using one of his twin brother's kidneys would be foolproof.

Richard and his brother knew he didn't really have like any other options, so they volunteered for this experimental surgery. So they took the twin brother's kidney, plopped it in, and it worked. Richard became the first patient to ever have a successfully transplanted organ. He went on to marry one of his nurses from the hospital he had the surgery at, and they went on to have like two kids together. And it just sounds like such a special like lifetime movie.

So until the 60s, surgeons mostly focused on experimenting with kidney transplants. They were trying to perfect that organ transplant process so they could move on to something else. And the results, I guess, were very hit or miss. But doctors kept getting creative when it came to

experimenting. There was a team at the University of Mississippi and they were conducting like hundreds of lung transplant experiments on dogs. And after they finally succeeded, they tried the procedure on a patient, but using human lungs instead. Sadly, like he died only a few weeks later. But these doctors, they're saying to themselves, you know, Rome wasn't built in a day.

It was seven days. And every doctor in the game was convinced that they had, like, the best technique for how to fix, like, what went wrong after the surgery. So the doctors, they just needed the human organs to actually test it out on, right? And they discovered that the best human organs were

the fresh ones. In 1967, Dr. Christian Barnard was already a household name in the scientific community. I guess he had pioneered many open heart surgery techniques and like other surgical procedures. And he was kind of like a god when it came to heart surgery. But his true passion was heart transplants. I guess until this point, a heart transplant had never been done human to human.

Dr. Barnard and his brother had been practicing heart transplantation with dogs for years, but he never had the right opportunity to perform the procedure on a human. And then in December that same year, an opportunity fell into his lap.

Dr. Barnard had been operating on a patient with an incurable heart disease. His condition was way too advanced for fix-it surgery, so he didn't really have much longer. And then at the same time, there was a woman who was in her mid-20s. She was brought into the hospital. I guess she was in a really bad car accident, and sadly she passed away, but her heart was still perfectly healthy.

So Dr. Barnard took advantage of this and he didn't let the young woman's organs go to waste. So he declared the patient brain dead, detached her from the ventilator, and then took out her heart. Oh yes. He then put the heart into his other patient who was dying and...

It was successful. I guess it worked. I mean, this was a groundbreaking moment. Dr. Barnard had performed the world's first heart transplant. Well, did he though? Because the man who received the heart actually died 18 days later. So would you say that was successful?

In his short time alive, the patient who received the heart transplant gave Dr. Barnard and his medical team, I guess, very valuable information so other patients could hopefully live longer. Even though these surgeries were huge successes, you can say, there were some, I guess, like

moral questions that started to pop up, which is fair. Just one month after Barnard's human heart transplant, there was a man named Dr. Norman Shumway who performed the first human heart transplant in the US. And I guess it was like very controversial.

even for the doctors. So during the surgery, the chief resident who was assisting Dr. Shumway asked, "Do you think this is really legal?" And then the doctor responded, "I guess, we'll see."

I guess the problem was that like lines were getting very blurred when it came to where doctors were getting the organs. There wasn't like a system in place, you could say. At this time, you had to wait for someone to pop into the hospital and be either dying or like they just died. And if there was like a fresh heart or kidney or whatever, some doctors would do anything to like get their hands on it.

Even if that meant like not getting the patient's permission. You know when you need to make an appointment to see a doctor, but like you can't find the number or you don't even know like what doctor to go to because you're like, what insurance do I have? And then you just get overwhelmed because you're searching and Googling and you're like, I don't know what I'm doing. It's too much. So you just abort mission. Same. It's happened to me more times than I can count. That is until I found ZocDoc.

the sponsor of today's episode. Ah, I love ZocDoc. If you don't already know, ZocDoc is a free app and website where you can search and compare high quality in-network doctors, choose the right one for your needs, and then click to instantly book an appointment. So no more frantic Googling for a doctor or awkward phone calls. You do it all on the app. Oh, it's great.

Plus, with ZocDoc, you can also see their actual appointment openings. Choose a time that works for you and click to instantly book a visit. It's so easy to use. Sometimes I just look at randoms like doctor's offices that take my insurance. There's so many doctors I don't even know about who all specialize in something very unique. So I'm looking and sometimes I book just like, I don't know, like an earwax specialist. I was like, okay, I'm in. Boop, booked.

Why not? Whatever. You can filter for doctors who take your insurance, who are located by you, who are a good fit for any medical need that you may have, and also who are highly rated by verified patients. Again, all on the app. Plus, ZocDoc appointments happen fast. I mean, typically within just 24 to 72 hours of booking.

What? I know. I was like, I don't have to wait six months. I mean, you can even score same day appointments. It's great. I love this app. So stop putting off those doctor's appointments and go to ZocDoc.com slash dark history to find and instantly book a top rated doctor today. That's ZocDoc, Z-O-C-D-O-C dot com slash dark history. ZocDoc.com slash dark history.

On May 24th, 1968, there was a 54-year-old man. His name was Bruce Tucker. And I guess he was injured at work. So he fell off of a brick ledge and he suffered a horrible head injury. So he was taken to the hospital for treatment.

But sadly, he ended up passing away. On May 25th, like the very next day, the Medical College of Virginia decided to not let Bruce's body go to waste. So they sewed Bruce's heart into the chest of like,

This guy who needed it, who was like a rich business executive. So this was like one of the first heart transplants in the United States. Therefore, it got a lot of media attention. Plus on top of that, it also gave the medical school funding. After the transplant, the Medical College of Virginia became known as the like the kings of organ transplant science. But there was just one problem. Technically...

"No, they stole Bruce's heart." I was thinking, "Well, Bruce is dead, you know, and someone else needed a heart." But no, because Bruce's family, they didn't even know his organs had been removed from his body until the funeral home he went to flagged it for them. They're like, "Hey, he's missing some shit." I guess the funeral home told the family that there was something off about Bruce's body. They're like, "Something's not right here because he's missing a kidney and a heart."

And I'm not a doctor, but I think you need those, you know? So when Bruce's family hears this, they're absolutely horrified. They had not consented to his organs being donated. And this, I guess, kind of opened up, is that Pandora's box? Because it showed or it uncovered a horrible trend that was actually happening. So at this time, I guess the area in Virginia, it's called Richmond, uh,

Everyone kind of knew, but like, because they were known for like body snatching. I guess like doctors in training, they would wait for bodies, you know, bodies of dead people. And then they would use them to practice how to dissect on them, you know, do like doctor stuff. And these doctors were actually known as resurrectionists. And it's funny, you might be like, this sounds familiar because we actually did another episode on this. Look at us.

Just coming out with the greatest hits. But I did an episode on this for Dark History called The Doctors Riot. Yeah, Doctors Riot. All about body snatching and stuff. It was wild. Here's the thing about resurrectionists in Richmond. I guess they weren't just like waiting for any bodies. The problem, the major problem, was that they were specifically waiting for bodies of black people.

Now, when it came to black working class people like Bruce, the doctors, they knew they could get away with this. In the 60s, it was very common for some doctors in Virginia to treat their black patients like they were experimental material for the hospital. They knew at the time, like black patients didn't have the same legal protections as white patients. And so they took advantage of that.

I mean, shit, if it wasn't for the funeral home, Bruce's family probably would have never found out what happened, you know? Well, Bruce's family did end up suing, but after years in court, I guess the jury sided with the doctors.

There was no justice for Bruce and his family. And I mean, the doctors essentially had to face no consequences for their actions. And Bruce's story highlighted like the horror show that was becoming organ transplants. So for the next few decades, things in the organ transplant industry are a little chaotic.

They're just, again, no formal system. They're just kind of guessing. If a patient comes in and they need like a transplant, they will look to a local organization. And if they didn't have the organ that you were looking for, it was like, sorry, Aunt Bertha, you are out of luck. There's nothing here for you. On October 19th, 1984, the federal government stepped in

So they ended up approving a new proposition, something called the National Organ Transplant Act.

So this was supposed to create a better system of connecting organ donors to organ recipients. And it also gave a person who died rights to their own body. Because I guess like organ snatching was just common. This is what they did. So this organ transplant act gave the family ownership over their loved one's body so they could decide what what

what to do, right? And even though this was like a good thing in the end, there was still a massive shortage of organs and people still had to jump through all kinds of hoops to get a kidney or like a heart that they needed and the list was growing longer and longer. So doctors realized that maybe they should get creative and maybe they should go back to like the old school way of things. So they decided to turn to something that was almost human.

Something that seems like it made sense on paper. I'm talking about animals. They're like, let's go back to the animals. The act of transplanting an animal organ into a human is called xenotransplantation.

We already know that doctors had been experimenting on animal organs, but it was never successful when it came to animal organs being put inside of humans. In the past, doctors tried to transplant like lamb, goat, and I guess even rabbit organs inside humans. And there was even a heart transplant surgery between a baboon and a child.

But the patients, they would never live longer than like a few days. So these doctors decided to try for something a little closer to a human. Hmm. How about a chimpanzee? Kind of makes sense maybe if you squint.

I mean, like, you know, they're kind of similar to us. Plus, experts say that their kidneys kind of work just like ours. And their organs are a similar size to ours. And apparently, they have a type A and type O blood types just like us. Doctors tried the chimpanzee kidney transplants.

And I guess like the results, they weren't horrible. Patients lived anywhere between 11 days and some even like nine months after surgery. Now, again, to us simple humans, we're like, well, it's not working then. Okay. But to the doctors, they were like, this is a sign. We're on to something. Like we just have to keep trying.

I guess the answer though was not chimpanzees because I guess they were too difficult to control and the results just they weren't paying off. Also when the public found out about this people were very upset. Oh yes that you know the chimps were being experimented on in this way. But many doctors knew that they were very close to xenotransplantation working so they were like we just need to keep searching.

Yes, we do. Now, cut to 2023. So the organ transplant crisis, you know, it isn't getting any better. Currently, there are over 100,000 Americans just waiting for an organ transplant.

Like doctors are racing against the clock to get patients the organs that they need. And they still believe like the key to fixing this issue is to turn to animals. Okay, great. Let's brainstorm. Can you guess like what animal they're going to turn to next? I was like giraffe? Hippo? I'll tell you after the break. Come back.

Summer is here. And for me, that means I'm wearing less makeup. Unless you're watching this ad right now, I'm wearing a lot of makeup, but I've been wearing less makeup because it's hot outside and I sweat. But my skin is rough right now. Okay, my dark spots...

They've been showing up. I went outside and I didn't wear SPF and I paid the price 'cause my dark spots on each side are now thriving. And it's like, I don't wanna like cover it up with makeup because it's hot outside, but at the same time I want to cover the dark spots. So I'm in a bit of a pickle, but it doesn't have to be with apostrophe.

Yay! Apostrophe's goal is to help you feel confident in your own skin. So whether you're dealing with breakouts, signs of aging, or acne scarring, Apostrophe will help you love the skin you're in. If you don't know, Apostrophe is an online platform that connects you with an expert dermatology team to get

customized acne treatment for your unique skin and all other like skincare concerns as well. Through Apostrophe, you can get access to oral and topical medications that use clinically proven ingredients to help with whatever your skin concerns are. Now, all you have to do is fill out an online consultation about your skin goals and medical history. Then you snap a few selfies, you know, of your face and a dermatology provider will create a customized treatment plan just for you.

Now, Apostrophe offers access to prescription treatments for like all types of skin concerns. So again, dark spots are happening. So I went on to Apostrophe, updated my profile, and they sent me my prescription of Tritinoin, which is essentially retinol for to use like at night. This product helps with like fine lines, evening out textures, helps with breakouts, dark spots. I mean, it helps with everything.

It's like this magic product. But you got to make sure to wear SPF. They also have SPF products too. Right now we have a special deal for our audience. You can get your first visit for only $5 at apostrophe.com slash dark history when you use our code dark history. Now that's a savings of $15 friends. This code is only available to our listeners. So to get started, just go to apostrophe.com slash dark history. Then click get started.

get started. Then use our code "DARKHISTORY" at sign up and you'll get your first visit for only $5. A big thank you to Apostrophe for sponsoring today's episode. Now let's get back to the story. The doctors, they turned to a pig. I was like, out of all the animals, a pig?

All right. Kind of came out of left field with that one, but all right. So the doctors, they chose the pig as their next test subject, I guess for a couple of reasons. One, pigs breed and give birth several times a year, so there is a huge supply. And most importantly, pig organs are close to the same size as ours.

Plus, doctors have been repairing human hearts by using the heart valve of a pig for, I guess, years now. There's lots of medications that are like, there's like blood thinner and like allergy treatment. And these things are made from pigs.

So it just kind of, I guess, made sense to give pig hearts a try. It's on the list. They're like, just do it. Pigs are smart and they're very lovable and cuddly and so cute. But I'm not saying this, but they were like, you know, people don't seem to care about like pigs as much as they do chimpanzees. So they won't really care. So the public, they were like, okay, whatever.

Whatever. Like I eat bacon, so go for it. So the very first pig heart transplant, I guess happened in January of 2022. I know. I think we were just preoccupied with the fact that like COVID was going on. So we probably didn't even notice that they were doing pig heart transplants. You know, that's probably why it just breezed right past us. But they did it. A man named David Bennett, I guess he volunteered for it.

He was brave. He was like, I'll do it. David was an end-stage heart failure and, like, you know, nowhere near the top of the list to receive a heart transplant. So when doctors gave him, like, this option for a little more time, he decided...

F it. I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna take the chance. So after hours of surgery, David made it out alive. And to everyone's shock, the pig heart transplant was a success. Suddenly tens of thousands of people on the waiting list for a heart had hope. I mean, maybe they didn't have to wait on the transplant list forever. So the press was all over this and it seemed like maybe the future of heart transplants was here.

Nope, just kidding, because David died unexpectedly two months later from heart failure. Doctors discovered after his death that actually there was a virus that was within the transplanted pig heart

Called PCMV. So maybe it wasn't the heart. It was maybe the virus, you know? And I guess this virus, it activated once it got into David's body. And I guess that's what caused the heart to fail. But after this, I mean, there was now even more paranoia surrounding xenotransplantation. But of course, that's not going to stop people from signing up for the pig heart. I mean, hell no.

Maybe it'll work, you know? It's better, I'd rather get an extra two months than nothing, right? In 2023, a man named Larry Fawcett, he signed up to get a pig heart. So I guess the disease, the heart disease that he had, it would reject a typical heart transplant like right away. So when he was given like the lifeline of the pig heart, he's like,

Let's go. Let's do this shit. September 20th, 2023. Larry underwent the pig heart transplant.

and just like with David Bennett, the media was all over it. Larry made it out of surgery alive and after some testing the doctors declared his surgery was a success. So as soon as Larry woke up he asked the surgeon for a t-shirt. Well I'm sure he asked for other things first okay but this was like one of the things he asked for. He asked for a t-shirt that said "just call me Wilbur" and we're like ha ha ha ha ha. You know

You know, he's in good spirits. And he was thrilled to be given like another chance at life. But sadly, I know there are complications. About a month later, I guess Larry's heart didn't seem to be doing too well. So doctors, they were speaking with him like every single day. And it was becoming clear that the amount of blood his heart was pumping just was not enough. So they placed him on an ECMO, which is a heart lung bypass machine that helps patients

pump your heart. But Larry like knew, he knew it wouldn't be enough. Eventually he told his doctors that he would like to be removed from the machine. It's so sad. So I guess it was said that Larry wasn't crying through his last days on earth. Like he spent the rest of his time joking and reminiscing with family and friends. And his wife said, quote, he got to say those things that you don't get to say to people because you always think you have more time. Aw.

It's true, but it's sad. Well, Larry ended up passing away on October 30th, 2023. And this was about six weeks after the surgery. People like Larry give hope to the xenotransplantation community. And quote unquote success stories like his also drive the organ transplant community to figure out like how to fix the problem. Like they're onto something. They're just not fully there.

A big part of this community is a company called Revivacor. Sounds sketchy, huh? What are they doing? Well, let me tell you. This company is essentially a research farm that experiments on animals with one goal in mind. Animal to human organ transplants.

The farm has two buildings and there's like a lot of pigs there, like around 300. And they're all for research purposes. And they're not just using any pig. They are using like the Rolls Royce of pigs. Oh yes.

These pigs are actually specially designed and cloned pigs. This way they can make sure that the pig hearts function properly and again, they don't have any viruses. Dr. David Ayers, who runs the company said, quote, "It's exciting. We've been working on this for more than 20 years and it's no longer a science fiction experiment. It's actually a reality."

I know. Every day the farm is said to get closer to perfecting the pig transplants. But like everything we do, there's still a lot of risk. Many doctors are concerned humans with like animal organs will somehow take on those animal viruses and you know, then pass them on to other humans and bada bing, bada boom. It's a shit storm. Paul's always trying to invest his money. I mean, he's one of those people.

Me, on the other hand, I find it a bit intimidating. I mean, where do you even start, you know? Well, with Acorns, they make it easy to start automatically saving and investing for your future. You don't need a lot of money or expertise to invest with Acorns. In fact, you can get started with just your spare change. Acorns recommends an expert-built portfolio that fits you and your money goals, then automatically invests your money for you.

With everything that goes on in life, like bus, bus, another bus, club, sleep, another club, no sleep, the last thing you're thinking about is investing or like how to save your for your future, you know? That's why I have been liking Acorns because they have easy automated investing which gives your money like a chance to work towards your financial goals with roundups, expert built diversified portfolios,

reoccurring investments, and more. You can save with no hidden fees, and you can even invest automatically from every paycheck if you wanted to. Head to acorns.com slash dark history or download the Acorns app to start saving and investing for your future today.

Paid non-client endorsement. Compensation provides incentive to positively promote Acorns. Investing involves risk. Acorns Advisors LLC and SEC registered investment advisor. View important disclosures at acorns.com slash dark history. You know what I've been listening to on Audible this month?

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. I read it and I was like, I want to listen on Audible. So it takes place in November of 1959 in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas, okay? Where four members of the Clutter family were savagely murdered.

It's a true story. There was like no apparent motive for the crime and there were almost no clues. So this was one of the first nonfiction novels ever written and Truman Capote goes into great detail reconstructing the murder and investigation that eventually led to the capture, trial, and execution of the killers.

It's so good. Wow. I was like, wow. It's so good. Highly recommend. If you don't know, Audible has the best selection of audio books without exception, along with popular podcasts and exclusive Audible originals, all in one easy app. Whether you want to listen to stories, motivation, expert advice, I mean, any genre you love, you can be inspired to imagine new worlds, new possibilities, and like new ways of thinking.

My favorite thing about Audible is that you can listen to it while you're doing other things, you know, like household chores, exercising, on the road, commuting, you know, you name it. Audible makes it easy to be inspired and entertained as part of your everyday routine. I mean, without even having to set aside extra time

for it. There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free 30-day Audible trial and your first audiobook is free. Visit audible.com slash dark history. That's audible.com slash dark history for a free 30-day trial and your first audiobook for free. And then plus, there's the ethics of it all. I mean, besides cloning and breeding some pigs from the farm,

Some believe that they're also kind of playing God by changing a pig's DNA. They're actually using the same techniques that they used on Dolly the Sheep.

Do you know who Dolly the sheep is? I know neither did I, I forgot about this story, but it was real. I guess in 1996, Dolly the sheep was like the very first successfully cloned sheep to ever be made by humans. Again, this was very controversial because you know, who do these scientists think they are? Are they God?

But scientists use the dolly cloning technique to essentially edit out all of the malfunctions that happen when a pig heart is put into a human. Now, this way there won't be issues like blood clots, you know, or stuff like that. That's all I can think of. Blood clots. Because so many people are upset over the whole concept, they won't even like look at the benefits.

A bioethicist named Dr. L. Sid Johnson is a concerned person, okay? She said, quote, the risk could really be catastrophic from a novel mutated virus that might infect a human.

Dr. Johnson and other doctors also are calling out the fact that creating, breeding, and sacrificing thousands of pigs every year just to like harvest their organs is cruel. Quote, they're treated like machines for the sole purpose of being disassembled to provide spare parts for humans. End quote. And you can say, yes, that is exactly what they are doing. Like whether you agree with Dr. Johnson or agree with the clone scientists, one thing is clear.

We are running out of organs. In 2023, around 46,000 transplants took place. So over half of the people on the waiting list just don't have good odds. So what happens then? Well, that brings us to the black market.

In Canada, it's estimated that like the average wait time for a kidney is four years. And some people wait as long as seven years. In the United States, the average wait time for a kidney is around three and a half years. But some people, you know, they're not able to wait. They need a kidney now or like they're going to die. Because of that, some people start to kind of take matters into their own hands by turning to the black market. You know, the black market for organ transplants isn't new.

I remember as a kid like you would hear like oh you're gonna get kidnapped and your organs are gonna be sold on the black market. Which is such a weird thing to say as a kid like how did we even know that? Hmm I don't know it was like a fear back then. I don't know what that was about. So if we go back to like the 1980s people were looking for ways around all the government regulations. No one wanted to wait on this long list to maybe get an organ. So people were like let's just do it ourselves and human organ trafficking

popped off. And I guess since then it's really only gotten bigger. There's this company, it's called Global Financial Integrity, GFI. They have been like fighting this black market situation for years. They estimate that like 10% of all organ transplants are done via trafficked organs. I guess it's an industry that's in the billions.

The most popular organ on the black market is the kidney. It's said that over 10,000 kidneys are traded on the black market worldwide every year. And if you do the math, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop,

That's like one kidney every hour. So politicians, they don't usually talk about this type of trafficking because, you know, it's not very exciting. It doesn't really grab attention like sex trafficking does. But I think you and I can agree that it's important and kind of spooky. There's not really like a ton of law enforcement surrounding human organ trafficking. And in some countries, I guess it's run by like the most elite of organized criminals.

What I just learned right now, five seconds ago, you can sell your organs to the black market. Yeah, you can actually be like, here's my kidney, like, you know, and people will do so because, you know, they need money or maybe they owe a lot of money to like these organized criminals or something. Usually, though, like if you do end up selling your kidney on the black market, you kind of get ripped off. Like sometimes they'll like give up the organ and they won't get the payment yet or they won't get the payment in full.

you'll be like half up front or something, you know, and then you'll never see them again. It's been reported that like over 80% of organ sellers don't receive the money that they were promised. With all that being said, I guess the question is, what the hell do we do? Many experts in the field of organ donation believe that the solution is to start with the root of the problem, the transplant list.

As of 2024, I guess there are over like 103,000 people on the waiting list and every eight minutes another person is added to the list. There's this company called the United Network for Organ Sharing, aka UNOS. They have been in charge of the organ donation program for like 40 years and I guess they match people on the transplant list with donor organs.

by coordinating with like other hospitals and donation groups. But like this company has control over the whole organ transplant process, so no new systems are allowed in to like improve it or make adjustments or something. I guess all that's gonna about to change as of now. The system is up for bid, meaning someone is allowed to come in by the program

hopefully make it better, but this is dark history and like I'm sure someone could also F it up. I think we can all agree that the system is broken or maybe it was never right. I don't know. But thousands of people are being added to the organ transplant list like every single year. It's sad. They don't know that they're gonna get matched. And in 2024, it feels like maybe by now we would have it figured out.

but obviously we don't. But it's like what else are they supposed to do? You know? And people are like, "Well, what about the pig farms? What about the pigs?" It's like, "I don't know. I don't know. I don't know." And we know that when human lives are on the line, unfortunately, a lot of times,

some lives will be lost. So next week, we're going to dive into a topic that every single one of us probably has a touch point with. Some people love to talk about it. Some people would literally want to talk about anything else. The Puritans used to throw ragers when this happened. President Lincoln inspired an entire country to pump their bodies full of chemicals because of it. And now more than ever, there are controversial industries popping up all

around it next week we're gonna be talking about death whoa I know that's dark but like all the shitty stuff that happens around when you die so next week we'll be diving into the dark history of the funeral industrial complex or like the dark history of death I haven't decided yet let me know which title I should go with well friends thank you for hanging out with me today what'd you learn mm-hmm yeah me too

Hey, did you know you can join me over on my YouTube where you can actually watch these episodes? Oh yeah, on Thursday. It's like after the podcast airs. And while you're there, you can also catch my murder mystery makeup. That's on Mondays. And like, don't forget to subscribe and stuff because I'm here for you weekly with new content. I'd love to hear your guys' reactions to today's story. So leave me a comment. Let me know what you're saying, what you want to talk about. Maybe you have experience with organ transplants. Maybe you're selling them on the black market.

Now let's read a couple of comments you guys left me. Let's just do this. Let's just do a whole episode of me reading comments, huh Joan? So Katie, the psychic lady, 2342, she left me a comment saying Joan needs some earrings and other accessories. Don't tell her that. It'll go straight to Joan's head. I mean, she takes things very personally. Now she's gonna go home and cry. You feel good about that, Katie? You're getting bullied. Ah!

Meg or Meeg Shuda 6624 left a comment on our Challenger episode. We need an audio clip of the ooh, somebody's in trouble and make it a ringtone for the boss. LOL. Bailey, you slay me. Hey, how do I make it into a ringtone? Let me know down below.

I mean, I would use that for my ringtone. Smoothie Queen, I already like you. Smoothie Queen 42 left us an episode suggestion saying, Bailey, you're the best. Do you think you could do a video on Australian forced adoption era? Well, Smoothie Queen, thank you, first of all. That was very nice of you. Second of all, I've never heard about this. So I've got a lot of questions thus far. I will do some Googling and goggling.

I actually tried to do an episode like it was going to be the dark history of Australia, but then it got complicated. So maybe I'll look into this instead. Huh? Thank you for the suggestion. I'll look into it. I'll probably stay up all night researching it and I'll let you know. I love you. Thank you so much for watching and I appreciate you for, you know, hanging out, engaging. Keep commenting because maybe next episode I will feature your comment. Huh?

Maybe I won't, but maybe I will. And hey, if you don't know, Dark History is an Audioboom original. Special thank you to our expert, Dr. Heather Dewey-Hagborg. And I'm your host. Hi, Bingley Sarian. I hope you have a good rest of your day. You make good choices. And I'll be talking to you next week. Goodbye.

We all want to see our loved ones living their best lives, but it's hard when they're struggling with drugs and alcohol. For nearly 70 years, Karen has made it possible for so many to imagine a life beyond addiction. We combine advanced neuroscience with life-changing care. Visit CARON.org. Karen, where the science of treatment meets the heart of care. Now in network with most insurances. That's CARON.org.

I'm Stanzi Potenza. And I'm Brad Padre. Launching June 13th is our new podcast, Late to the Party. In this post-ironic chat show, we'll show you a window into our world of crazy post-ironic thoughts. An unlikely friendship founded on a shared love for riffs, ranting, and getting absolutely wrecked.

Consider this an invitation to our inside jokes. You're late to the party, but no one cool ever shows up on time. Follow Late to the Party on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to this kind of stuff.