Two men who gave a portion of their lungs to save a 17-year-old boy will climb San Diego’s tallest office building, the 32-story One America Plaza, for three continuous hours March 12 in conjunction with the 24th annual StairClimb to Cure Cystic Fibrosis.

Since the surgery four years ago, Mathew Joyce, now 21, has become an avid surfer. He has been to Australia and Fiji twice, Hawaii four times, Cabo San Lucas and Costa Rica, all possible because two men put their lives on the line.

In November 2000, Joyce weighed just 75 pounds and was literally suffocating. The life-threatening genetic disease, cystic fibrosis, was damaging his lungs. The average life expectancy for those with CF is 33 years. Joyce expected to miss that by almost half. Joyce needed a relatively new living donor lobar lung transplant. That meant finding two people who would donate a portion of their lungs to Joyce.

Each lung is made up of lobes or sections. The right lung has three lobes; the left lung two. A healthy person can give up a lobe and still have nearly normal breathing capacity.

A series of fortunate events occurred. Fred Phillips, a partner in the Downtown law firm of Phillips, Haskett & Ingwalson, is a regular customer at the supermarket where Joyce’s mother works. She told Phillips the only way Matt would survive was with the living donor lobar transplant. Phillips, whose stepson also has CF, offered to donate a lobe.

Dave Manglos, then a 40-year-old U.S. Customs agent, was watching television one evening with his wife Rhonda. Joyce’s cousin, Jenny LaRocco, appealed on the news for someone with O-positive blood, a nonsmoker five-feet, 10-inches or taller. Dave told his wife, “that’s me.”

Earlier in the week, Manglos says, he had a feeling from a higher power. Driving home from the San Onofre checkpoint, he pulled off Interstate 5 to rest. He watched the surfers, never thinking he would help one, but he knew God wanted him to do something important. He says he always felt those who had “supernatural experiences” were a little “wacko.” But his experience was too strong to ignore.

After a series of tests to determine tissue compatibility, both Phillips and Manglos were accepted as donors. The five-hour surgery took place Nov. 2, 2000, and combined the efforts of two hospitals and three teams of surgeons.

Although life is better for Joyce, it is not without its challenges. He takes 60 pills a day. Since he also has diabetes, he still has to check his blood sugar four times a day and give himself insulin shots. But he considers each day a gift and lives each one to the fullest.

For information on how to participate in the stair climb, call San Diego Chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation at (858) 578-2945.