Man Throws 100th Birthday Party In Honor of Mom’s Sacrifice

When Raymond Vetuskey was just 16 years old, a virus caused extensive damage to his kidney. Doctors advised that his only chance at long-term survival was a kidney transplant. On March 2, 1978, Raymond’s mother, Betty Vetuskey, donated a kidney to her son. Today, Raymond is 65 years old and living a healthy life thanks to his mother’s sacrifice. Betty would have turned 100 years old in 2026, so Raymond decided to have a birthday party for his 100-year-old kidney. The organ set a record for the University of Rochester Medical Center’s Strong Memorial Hospital.

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“I’m a miracle, and I feel great every day,” Raymond told the hospital. “I know I’m lucky and I thank my mother.”

Betty’s donated kidney made Raymond Vetuskey URochester Medicine’s longest surviving kidney transplant recipient. It’s a feat that continues to amaze physicians.

“His story is an inspiration for organ transplant recipients and anyone awaiting a new organ,” Miklos Z. Molnar, MD, PhD, director of Transplant Medical Services for URochester Medicine Transplant Institute, shared. “It’s amazing to see him thriving with a kidney that is functioning so well after 100 years. It is a rare situation—definitely something we don’t see every day.”

Raymond told WEHC his mom was 52 when she became a living donor, and it never crossed her mind to say no.

“I don’t think she gave it two thoughts. Anything she could do to help her son, I think she would have done anything, which she did in my eyes,” he said.

Betty Vetuskey died in 2008, but Raymond feels her presence every day.

“Every day I think of her; doesn’t a day go by…She’s right by my side, all the time,” he said.

He even had a star named after his mother, who continues to be a light in his life. “I had a star named after her, so she’s in the national star registry for all of eternity; she’s in the heavens,” he said.

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