In a rare series of interlinked operations, 12 patients will participate in a 'kidney swap' at a San Francisco hospital. The procedures - which take around three hours - will be performed Thursday and Friday at California Pacific Medical Center, with six organ donors and six recipients. People in the chain are not compatible with relatives or friends to whom they are willing to give kidneys. So, they donate to strangers they do match. Back-to-back: In a rare series of interlinked operations, six patients are getting kidney transplants from six donors at a San Francisco hospital . Dr William Bry says the 'paired donations' are occurring thanks to a woman who started a chain of donations and a computer program that matches donors to recipients. Zully Broussard, 55, of Sacramento agreed to give a kidney to a man who was not compatible with his relative. That relative, in turn, will donate a kidney to a patient who also has a family member or friend unable to donate because of compatibility issues. This kind of pairing continues down the line four more times until all six kidney patients get transplants, the San Francisco station reported. The paired kidney exchange happened through computer software called MatchGrid, developed by David Jacobs, who is a kidney recipient. Its algorithmic program uses a person's genetic profile and finds potential matches. Once the matches are confirmed, doctors, nurses and case managers work on the logistics of making it a reality. Inspiration: Dr William Bry says the 'paired donations' are occurring thanks to Zully Broussard, 55, (pictured) who started a chain of donations and a computer program that matches donors to recipients . Ready to go: The procedures - which take around three hours - will be performed Thursday and Friday at California Pacific Medical Center (pictured), with six organ donors and six recipients . Broussard said her son died of cancer 13 years ago and her husband passed away 14 months ago, also from cancer. 'I know what it feels like to want an extra day,' she said when asked why she volunteered to donate a kidney to a stranger. Three transplants are planned for Thursday and the remaining three on Friday. Most of those involved are from the San Francisco Bay Area. 'I thought I was going to help this one person who I don't know, but the fact that so many people can have a life extension, that's pretty big,' Broussard said. More than 100,000 people in the U.S. are awaiting kidney transplants. Most on the waiting list need the transplant within three to five years and many have died waiting.
The procedures will take place on Thursday and Friday at California Pacific Medical Center . People in the chain are not compatible with relatives or friends to whom they are willing to give kidneys . So, they donate to strangers they do match .