A New Brighton man has a new lease on life — given to him by a friend who lost his life last weekend.

Andrew Dietz, 27, received a life-saving kidney from his longtime friend, Ryan Minett, after Minett was killed in a bizarre auto accident in Cranberry Township.

“This is the kind of story that inspires people,” said Rob Dietz, Andrew’s father.

Andrew has focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, or FSGS, a leading cause of kidney failure in adults. The Dietz family learned about Andrew’s condition when he was very young, but it only recently became an issue.

“We heard he could grow out of it,” Rob Dietz said.

Andrew became an outdoorsman, his father said — hunting, fishing and playing sports.

Last year all that changed when doctors found his FSGS had become life-threatening.

“Around April of last year, he had a physical and his blood pressure was like stroke range,” Rob Dietz said.

Andrew was immediately admitted into the hospital. By early May, he was receiving four-hour dialysis treatments three times a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

His kidney was functioning at 9 percent, Rob Dietz said.

Andrew got on the transplant list and waited for his chance for a new kidney.

“The typical wait time is three to five years,” said Dr. Puneet Sood, medical director of Living Donor Kidney Program at Thomas E. Starzl Transplant Institute in Pittsburgh.

The only way to skip ahead would be to find a donor who specifically requested they donate to him.

In the meantime, Andrew continued on dialysis and did what he could to keep active.

Then on Saturday, Rob Dietz got a call from his daughter, Linsdey.

“Me and my wife were out shopping,” Rob Dietz said. “Drew was fishing. We got a call from our daughter.”

She told him about Ryan Minett — that he got into an accident and wouldn’t survive, and that the Minetts remembered Andrew.

“Eric (Ryan Minett’s father) mentioned Drew needed a kidney,” Rob Dietz said. “If Eric didn’t say Drew’s name … there were two other people lined up.”

Once the hospital made sure Ryan Minett was a donor match, the doctors and medical personnel began tests to see if the kidney was in good enough condition to donate.

“For a kidney, I can tell you there is a bunch of things we look at,” Sood said. “One, how good the kidney was when the patient was alive. If we know the patient was young, no illnesses, no diabetes, no smoking, things like that. We (also) do a biopsy.”

If the medical history and tests show no problems, the kidney is approved for transplant.

While the doctors and nurses confirmed the match and prepared for the transplant procedure, the Dietz family scrambled to get their son to the hospital for surgery. Then Rob Dietz had to tell his son about his friend.

“I said ‘Drew, the reason you’re going to the hospital is you’re getting a kidney,’” Rob Dietz said. “Then I had to tell him the reason.”

The Dietz family and the Minetts had been friends for nearly 20 years. Ever since the Dietzes moved to the area in 1999. Ryan and Andrew went to school together and knew each other well, said Rob Dietz.

“He was devastated. You know? It’s his friend,” he said.

That Saturday, Andrew was rushed to the hospital and prepped for surgery.

It lasted about two and a half hours, said Rob Dietz, and went off without complications.

Now Andrew is recovering quickly.

“He’s sitting up in a chair; he’s on solid foods now,” his father said. “He’s in pretty good spirits.”

Ryan Minett’s father, Eric, called and spoke to Andrew.

“It was very emotional,” said Rob Dietz.

Now Andrew could be going home in the next few days, although there’ll still be many months of treatment and recovery.

Rob Dietz said he hopes Ryan Minett’s legacy will focus on what he did for Andrew, and that it will inspire others to do the same.

“Ryan was a good kid,” he said. “We want Ryan’s legacy to be what he did for Drew. He gave his life to give life to him.”

Rob Dietz hopes that’s what people remember and recognize the great gift that the Minetts gave their son.

Now his son is recovering and is set to come home soon, and he hopes Ryan Minett’s donation will inspire others to register as organ donors as well.

“Donate. It’s a check on your driver’s license,” Dietz said. “It’s just a checkbox. You can change lives.”