St. Louis (KMOV) -- Kidney transplants are more common these days, but two decades ago it was a risky proposition.
Now, a couple from Union, Missouri, are celebrating a major milestone. Transplanting a kidney between blood relatives is one thing. In 1984 transplanting a kidney between non-relatives was rare and dangerous.
That did not stop Bob Fink and his wife Maxine who are celebrating twenty years since that successful surgery, making him the longest survivor in St. Louis. At the time Bob was told he had only months to live, a donor kidney had not come through, so Maxine insisted on giving him one of her kidneys.
Today the couple shared family photos of grandchildren, weddings, and graduations he may never have seen without the transplant. Fink is now 76-years-old and retired from union pacific railroad. A physician at Barnes-Jewish Hospital tells News 4 that great strides have been made in anti-rejection in the years since Fink''s transplant, making his success story that much more amazing.