CONNECTED— Brian Berg and Chris Breed, both from Agoura, are bonded for life. Berg recently donated one of his kidneys to Breed, whose health was deteriorating due to polycystic kidney disease, an inherited disorder that ultimately leads to kidney failure and requires transplantation. SYLVIE BELMOND/Acorn Newspapers More than 100,000 men, women and children in the U.S. are waiting for lifesaving organ transplants.

Chris Breed, an Agoura Hills resident who was born with hereditary kidney disease, is among those who have received an organ from a living donor.

The owner of Sunset Room restaurant in Agoura Hills was weeks away from having to begin dialysis when his friend Brian Berg learned he was a compatible organ donor for Breed.

They underwent successful kidney transplant surgery at UCLA on Dec. 20.

The two men met 10 years ago through their daughters, Rebecca and Morgan. The girls became friends while attending Willow Elementary School in Agoura, and their parents and siblings also developed a close bond.

“The transplant has brought us even closer,” Breed said.

“Brian’s been so concerned about me since he gave me the kidney, making sure it is okay and working, as if it was his responsibility,” he joked.

Breed, who enjoys the outdoors and played semi-professional rugby in England during his youth, began looking for a matching donor a decade ago. His search intensified in recent years as his health began to deteriorate.

Polycystic kidney disease took the life of Breed’s father. His older brother also has the disorder and had a transplant four years ago.

Many of Breed’s relatives, including his wife, Alexandra, were willing to donate but none were compatible.

Berg, a father of four and an engineer who enjoys bike riding, said his wife, Gretchen, first volunteered to donate one of her kidneys to Breed. After learning she wasn’t a match, Berg decided to get tested to see if he could help.

“It wasn’t a hard decision. I have a friend who’s dying from kidney disease and I had a spare,” he said.

In the weeks before the transplant, Breed’s potassium level was becoming elevated and he was starting to feel fatigued.

“Brian saved the day,” said Dr. Jeffrey Veale, a transplant surgeon and director of the UCLA Kidney Transplantation Exchange Program. “His big beautiful kidney is working really well for Chris.”

Since living kidney donations are performed through laparoscopic surgery, donors don’t need to have a big incision. Most leave the hospital the next day.

“More people need to know that this is possible,” Veale said.

In 2011, 300 kidney transplants were performed at UCLA, and half of them involved living donors.

The demand for kidneys is growing because the population is aging and more individuals have diabetes and hypertension, Veale said. But the number of what the surgeon calls “altruistic donors” is also increasing,

“We’re seeing more and more spouses and friends donating to friends on dialysis, and even total strangers, that just want to donate a kidney out of the goodness of their heart,” he said.

Veale is credited with pioneering a kidney donor exchange program. A donor’s kidney is transplanted into a recipient who had a donor willing to give a kidney but who was not a match. Then the incompatible donor gives a kidney to another patient who has been identified as a match.

Donors and recipients across the country are matched through a specialized computer program.

To learn more, visit www.transplants.ucla.edu and click on “Kidney Exchange.”