An elderly man in the Greater Toronto Area has been officially recognized by Guinness World Records as the oldest man to ever receive a kidney transplant.
Walter Tauro underwent the procedure at St. Michael’s Hospital at the age of 87 in June 2023. Months later, in March, Guinness World Records awarded him with the title of oldest kidney transplant recipient for a male.
While talking to CTV News Toronto during an interview, Tauro said he was on dialysis for four years, going in for hours-long visits every other day to receive treatment for his kidney disease.
He said it made him awfully tired and weak, so he considered surgery.
He said: “Everybody said, ‘No, no, you’re too old. I said, ‘I want to take the risk. If I live, I will be living happy.’ I had a good chance of living, so they gave me a chance.”
In St. Michael’s article about Tauro’s surgery, Tauro underwent many assessments and conversations with the hospital before he was cleared for a kidney transplant.
In the article, Meriam Jayoma-Austria, a registered nurse in the kidney transplant program said: “In our program, it is not the age of the patient that matters it is their overall health. Walter went through the program seamlessly, from his heart assessments to a bone marrow analysis.”
On the day of the surgery, on June 11, 2023, Tauro’s son, Lionel, wasn’t aware he was going in for it.
Lionel told CTV Toronto: “He would regularly go for tests for the hospital, so I was puzzled why everybody was saying bye to my dad. My dad didn’t want me to worry. So I said, ‘Okay Dad, you’re going for a test I’ll see you tomorrow.’ And then dad goes in the taxi, and he goes to the hospital himself.”
Lionel received a call from his mother the following morning that his father’s surgery had been completed.
“I was stunned,” Lionel said.
Walter Tauro said the surgery took six hours and he woke up feeling “okay.”
He said: “Usually people stay there seven to 10 days, I end up staying there for one month.”
It is almost 10 months after his surgery and his new kidney is functioning well.
Tauro is thankful that he took the operation.
He said: “It is a very risky and dangerous operation because when you’re old, it’s hard to control yourself, to get better it takes time. But I made it, thank God.”
