THELEAVEN.ORG | VOL. 39, NO. 10 | OCTOBER 13, 2017
LEAVEN PHOTO BY MOIRA CULLINGS
Becca Northcott, left, and her daughter reunite with Becky Wright at Ascension School in Overland Park. Wright, the school’s principal, donated her kidney to Northcott, a former teacher, this past summer.
THE GIFT OF LIFE
Ascension principal donates kidney to former teacher
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By Moira Cullings moira.cullings@theleaven.org V E R LAND PA R K — Becky Wright, principal at Church of the Ascension School here, inspires her teachers in many ways. This summer, she topped them all by giving a piece of herself — literally. On June 30, Wright donated her kidney to Becca Northcott, the school’s former Spanish teacher. “Her willingness and her generosity to be able to change my life the way she has,” started Northcott . . . but then couldn’t finish. It leaves her speechless.
The fight for life At age 13, Northcott developed an autoimmune disorder that attacks the blood cells near the skin. Because the kidneys are vascular, she said, it also attacked the capillaries in her kidney, causing permanent damage. At 14, Northcott went on dialysis and discovered she would need a transplant. “I was on dialysis for six months and was able to maintain with medication until I was about 16 or 17,” she said. “And then they started looking at needing a kidney.” Northcott’s parents were unable to donate due to health reasons, and her siblings were minors at the time, ruling them out as well. That’s when she got put on the list to receive a kidney from a donor. “I was on the list for about
three months when I got my first kidney,” said Northcott. “But a lot of people don’t realize that when you get a transplant — it doesn’t matter what transplant it is — they don’t last forever,” she said. So from age 17 to 28, life went back to normal for Northcott. But in 2014, she began an active search for another donor. And she kept her principal informed. “I told Becky, ‘This is what’s happening. I’m going to need a kidney. I’m on the list, so if I get a call during school, I’m taking the call and I’m leaving,’” said Northcott. “And I’m the one who finds a sub,” said Wright, “which is why I need to know these things.” One day, Wright mentioned to Northcott that if she didn’t have so much on her plate, she’d get tested to see if she was a match. “A lot of people will say that and
don’t follow up,” said Northcott. “It’s a huge life-changing thing, and I’m not sure they’ve thought it all the way through.” But not Wright. A few months later, she told Northcott she wanted to do it. “I was floored,” said Northcott. Wright was tested and discovered she was a match. In the months that followed, she spent her days off going through rigorous health testing in preparation for surgery. All the while, the women still hadn’t announced what was going on to the rest of the school. “I didn’t want to tell everybody about it because I didn’t want everybody to get all excited until we had the final date,” said Wright. Once they had it, Northcott made the announcement to Ascension staff. >> See “EVERYBODY” on page 4