Health & Science

A life-saving, donated kidney

By Izzy Sy

Lying face up and side by side on separate operating room tables, Dr. Alex Hilario and his sister, Elizabeth Hilario, were nervous. They were anxious. A surgical team would extract a kidney from her body to place in his.

Her brother’s kidney function had been diminishing for at least 20 years. Two decades ago, while trying to give his mother a kidney, he was diagnosed with the same genetic disorder she had. Polycystic kidney disease had swelled his kidney to five times the normal size. 

By the time the chiropractor became the patient, his kidneys had lost more than 80% of their capacity to properly function.

“I would need a transplant or to go on dialysis,” he said. 

By 2024, with his condition worsening rapidly, his symptoms included intense fatigue and pain in his lower stomach. “[It] was definitely tough, especially when I was at the gym. It would take me two hours to complete a one-hour workout.”

“I knew,” Elizabeth said, “that my brother was suffering.” 

When she offered to give up her kidney at a family gathering, the doctor thought she was just saying it to be nice. The two grew up in different households, with different mothers but the same father. They were not that close growing up. But the half-sister wanted to help her half-brother in any way she could.

“She said ‘I’ll do it’ with zero hesitation,” he said. “From Day One she was all-in and I am thankful for that.”

The operation carries risks. There is a 5% to 20% chance that the body rejects a transplanted kidney. They trusted their shared, Christian faith to get them through the surgery and beyond.

“I felt that this is how God wanted it to go,” she said. “I knew He was within both of us and we would be protected. I just wanted to help.”

Since the May 21 surgery, Hilario has been recovering at home in Rockland County. Days after the surgery, he developed a hernia, but that is not out of the ordinary for transplant patients.

A big white bandage covers the scar from the surgery. 

He’s back from the brink of death because of his sister’s gift.

“She knew the risks and she took it to save my life. She is my angel for forever now.”