SAN DIEGO -- Brothers Ernie and Ricky Medina of Chula Vista have always looked out for each other. Ricky was once again watching out for his brother when he went to University of California San Diego Medical Center two months ago. There, he donated a kidney to keep Ernie alive.

"My bond with my brother Ernie is special. He's a great person. I immediately said to myself, 'I can do this,'" Ricky said.

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Kidney Donation Gives New Meaning To Brotherly Love

Doctors told Ernie (pictured, right) last year that his kidneys were failing and his only option was a transplant.

Plenty of donors came forward and were tested, but younger brother Ricky (pictured, left) turned out to be a match.

"I have faith that it will work out and in the end it will be happy. My brother will not have to be going to dialysis and the family will be same again," Ricky said.

Ernie said he was overwhelmed by Ricky's generosity and confident the transplant would be successful.

"I feel like I have been thrown into the fire and it has been very hot and uncomfortable, but when I come out, I am going to be forged like steel and I am going to be pure and I will be strong," Ernie said.

UCSD transplant surgeons Dr. Marcus Hart and Dr. Ajai Khanna performed the transplant and 10News staying healthy reporter Carol LeBeau was there during the surgery.

The surgery to remove Ricky's kidney was done laproscopically.

"We pull the kidney out through an incision and it comes out just like you are delivering a baby," Hart said.

"We expect the operation to go smooth and hopefully the kidney is working right away. We should expect Ernie to be off dialysis," Khanna said.

In simultaneous operations, Hart took Ricky's kidney, walked next door and handed the kidney to Khanna, who transplanted it into Ernie.

During the surgery, Ernie and Ricky's wives were relieved and overwhelmed.

"It's one of the happiest days of my life," Ernie's wife, Valerie, said.

"I think we all kind of knew it was going to be OK, but it was the getting here that was kind of nerve-racking," Ricky's wife, Tina, said.

Two days following the transplant, Ricky was up and walking and Ernie experienced the impact of his brother's gift for the first time.

"It's like a dream. It's hard to believe I don't have to go back to dialysis and I can live pretty much a normal life," Ernie said.

One month later, Ricky and Ernie are back to work and coaching a swim team together.

"I have the energy levels that I did when I was a teenager," Ernie said.

Ernie called his new kidney a gift of brotherhood and life. A present both brothers wish for others waiting for organ transplants.

"If I could do it again, I would do it again," Ricky said.

More than 30,000 people in San Diego need an organ, if you would like to learn more about organ transplant, visit www.lifesharing.org.