87-year-old Wheaton woman defies age in Illinois kidney transplant milestone

Sheila Perry, 87, of Wheaton, became Illinois’ oldest known woman to receive a kidney transplant in a March 6 procedure at Northwestern Medicine after roughly seven months on the UNOS waitlist. Medical teams say there is no formal age limit for kidney transplants, and Perry’s good health aside from kidney failure — plus techniques like spinal anesthesia — helped make the surgery feasible. Prior to the transplant, she had been on home peritoneal dialysis since July 2024, which gradually limited her mobility and travel. Now recovered, she aims to resume traveling, visiting museums and spending time with family, with plans to travel to Europe again. The field continues to push age boundaries, with over 22,000 kidney transplants in 2024 nationwide and fewer than 800 performed on people over 75; the oldest US record for a female transplant was 96 in 2009.