NCO gives wife priceless gift

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Christin Michaud
  • 305th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
MCGUIRE AIR FORCE BASE, N.J. (AFPN) --  Flowers, chocolates and jewelry are gifts any woman would love from her husband. There is even the famous saying: "Diamonds are a girl’s best friend."

Sometimes though, the most precious gifts are ones that cannot be bought -- like the one Staff Sgt. Anthony Lucas gave to his high-school sweetheart and now wife, Natasha Wellington-Lucas. Lucas is assigned to the 605th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron here.

After battling high blood pressure for many years and learning just two years ago that her kidneys were not functioning at their full capabilities, Wellington-Lucas was diagnosed in March with end-stage renal disease.

When the couple was told she had the disease and would need a kidney transplant, Lucas, without hesitation, offered his.

“I’ve known Natasha most of my life,” Lucas said of his wife of four years. “I would do anything for her. It doesn’t matter what it is.”

When asked what he needed to go through to determine if he was a match, Lucas said, “A lot of blood work and a prayer.”

“By some miracle, it (turned) out he was a match,” Wellington-Lucas said. “If someone you know is in need of an organ, please consider being a donor. You will save their life. It is the greatest gift you could give someone. And once you recover, it will not affect your health at all.”

“I didn’t realize having uncontrolled high blood pressure could lead to this problem,” she said. Wellington-Lucas learned she had high blood pressure at the age of 18. “Since then I have been on a ton of different medications; most of them stopped working after a few months. I didn’t take this as seriously as I should (have), so I wasn’t prepared when my kidneys began to fail.”

Blood pressure is the No. 2 cause of renal disease, behind diabetes, according to the National Kidney Foundation. It occurs when the kidneys are no longer able to function at a level necessary for day-to-day life.

“I totally lost my appetite and felt sick to my stomach most of the time,” she said. “This caused me to lose weight. I also felt very weak.”

The disease is fatal unless treated with dialysis or a kidney transplant.

“I have been on dialysis since March,” Wellington-Lucas said. Three days a week she was hooked up to a machine that did the work of her kidneys.

On Sept. 23, the couple underwent the extensive medical procedure at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, N.J. The surgery took about four hours for each of them. As a result, both are recovering at home.

Master Sgt. James Harrison said people like Lucas are few and far between.

“For someone to give up themselves like that -- he’d do that for just about anyone here, too -- shows what a great guy he is,” he said.

“I can’t describe how supportive the 605th has been,” Lucas said. “My flight commander, flight chief and section chiefs have been incredible. Their doors were always open. I probably wouldn’t have gotten this far without them.”

While some husbands give their wives flowers, Wellington-Lucas’ husband, gave her the opportunity to live a normal life.

With this act of kindness, she said, “He is truly a hero in my book." (Courtesy of Air Mobility Command News Service)