When her brother's renal disease progressed to the point where he needed a new kidney, Monique Hoskins immediately knew she'd be the one to give it to him. She hadn't been tested to know if she was a match, and her little brother, Fontaine Lecesne, hadn't asked her yet. "When he said, 'My doctor tol d me eventually I'm going to need a kidney transplant,' instantaneously I knew. Don't ask me how I knew ... maybe God put it on my heart," Hoskins said. Sure enough, in 2023, Hoskins gave her brother a kidney. "One of the first questions that they ask you is, 'Why you want to be a donor?' And I said, 'Well, he's my brother and he needs a kidney.' That's what we do in our family. We take care of each other. There was no decision to be made," Hoskins said. Lecesne and Hoskins shared their story at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood on Sunday for the hospital's 33rd annual transplant candlelight ceremony honoring organ donors and their recipients. When Fontaine Lecesne needed a kidney transplant due to advanced renal failure, his sister, Monique Hoskins, left, donated one of hers. The siblings shared their story Sunday at the 33rd annual candle-lighting ceremony in honor of organ and tissue donors at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood.Zubaer Khan/Sun-Times Loyola Transplant Center provides a range of transplants, including heart, lung, kidney, liver, pancreas, bone marrow, stem cells and multi-organ transplants. Last year, the hospital performed 386 transplants, and the living donor program had more than 55 participants. Donors, recipients, their loved ones and transplant surgeons and nurses filled the basketball courts at Loyola's fitness center and extolled organ donation and its life-changing results. Related ICE temporarily releases Venezuelan man who came to donate kidney to ailing brother After 6-person kidney exchange, families meet for first time: ‘A small sacrifice to make such a big impact’ Lecesne had dealt with late-stage renal disease for 10 years when he ended up in the hospital with sepsis more than two years ago. After that, he had to go on dialysis three times a week for five hours. To maintain his health insurance, Lecesne, who worked as a butcher at a Jewel-Osco in Joliet, needed to work 32 hours a week. "I had to work no mater what, even if I was sick, I had to show up, and it was hard," Lecesne said. "And so I decided, OK, we need to do the transplant."The waiting period for a kidney from a dead donor can be several years. So he started to ask friends and family if they'd be willing to donate a kidney. That's when he got a call from his sister. "She says, 'Have you gotten anyone to donate yet?' And I said no. And she said, 'Well, when are you going to ask me?'" he said. Hoskins got tested and learned she was her brother's match. Both siblings underwent surgery at Loyola on Aug. 30, 2023. Lecesne's health improved and Hoskins soon resumed her normal, active lifestyle. "This journey has had a profound change on my life," Hoskins said. "I realized, just in the little bit of discomfort and pain and fatigue that I had after surgery, that there are people who live like this, people who have kidney disease, people who have to function on dialysis to live. I am in awe of your courage. I am inspired by you and my brother, who's lived through this for so long." Linda Butler, left, and her wife, Betsy Nickerson, at Sunday’s ceremony at Loyola University Medical Center. Last month, Nickerson underwent surgery for a new kidney. Butler wasn’t a match, but a relative on the East Coast was.Zubaer Khan/Sun-Times Spouses Betsy Nickerson and Linda Butler of Rolling Meadows attended Sunday's ceremony. Only a month earlier, Nickerson underwent surgery for a new kidney. The 69-year-old had been living with late-stage renal failure since 2018. When her kidney function dropped to 13%, it was time for Nickerson to get a new kidney. Butler wasn't a match for Nickerson, her wife of 13 years. But their sister-in-law in Delaware was. She flew out and the two underwent their surgeries on March 6. A month earlier, Butler had donated one of her kidneys to a stranger at the Mayo Clinic. "I feel very, very, very lucky," Nickerson said. "We will always have this bond, we're sisters forever."She'll always been right here," Nickerson said, patting her heart. "And right here," laughing and patting where her new kidney is. ...read more read less