UChicago Medicine Performs 36-Hour Quadruple Transplant on 28-Year-Old Woman
Updated
Updated · Chicago Tribune · May 20
UChicago Medicine Performs 36-Hour Quadruple Transplant on 28-Year-Old Woman
2 articles · Updated · Chicago Tribune · May 20
University of Chicago Medicine said Jasmine Jones, 28, is recovering at home five months after receiving a 36-hour transplant of both lungs, a liver and a kidney from one deceased donor in January.
Cystic fibrosis had left Jones with badly damaged lungs, liver failure and kidneys functioning at about 10%, prompting doctors to attempt the four-organ surgery as her best chance at a normal life.
About 40 doctors, nurses and anesthetists carried out the operation, using blood-oxygenation support and organ perfusion machines to keep Jones alive and the donor organs viable through the staged procedure.
Jones spent roughly six weeks in the hospital and additional rehab before returning home in March; doctors say her new organs are doing well, though she will need lifelong anti-rejection drugs and continued monitoring.
UChicago called it the first known quadruple organ transplant of its kind in Illinois and one of only six performed nationwide, underscoring how advances in multi-organ transplantation are extending survival for patients with complex disease.
What is the true lifelong cost—physical and financial—of surviving a 'miracle' quadruple organ transplant?
How does giving four organs to one patient change the ethics of organ donation for everyone else on the waiting list?
As medicine performs miracles, are we closer to regenerating our own organs instead of replacing them?
Quadruple Organ Transplant Breakthrough: Jasmine Jones’s 2026 Surgery and the Future of Multi-Organ Transplantation
Overview
In January 2026, UChicago Medicine achieved a historic medical milestone by performing a quadruple organ transplant on Jasmine Jones, who was suffering from severe cystic fibrosis. The disease had caused extensive damage to her lungs, heart, liver, and pancreas, leaving her on life support and in urgent need of intervention. A highly skilled team carried out the complex, 20-hour surgery, transplanting all four organs at once—a world first. Following the operation, Jasmine made remarkable progress, regaining her strength and independence, and her recovery offers hope for others facing similar life-threatening conditions.