A local woman will soon travel across the country for a medical procedure she hopes will save her fiancé’s life.
Isaac Sirk and Lacey Smith have known each other since they were kids. They were high school sweethearts at Booneville High School. But in February of 2003, Isaac’s life took a turn for the worse.
"I've got lupus nephritis,” said Sirk, “It's where lupus has attacked my kidneys. I do 11 hours of dialysis every day."
The couple said multiple attempts to find a kidney donor fell through.
"I was always trying to get him to let me do it,” said Smith, “He just wouldn't let me. I wasn't nervous at all. I've never had any type of surgery or any stitch in my body at all."
Sirk was in and out of Mercy Hospital for years. As his health continued to get worse, the couple decided on other options.
"We are going to the Methodist hospital in Rochester, Minn.,” said Sirk, “It is around 750 miles away."
That’s where Smith was approved to donate her kidney.
"It was very unlikely for her to be a genetic match because we are not related, of course, so when she was, we kind of saw it as a sign from God."
The surgery is scheduled for Jan. 9.
"They'll go in, cut it out, and pull it out,” said Smith, “They'll put him down for surgery in the next room, and as soon as they take the kidney out, they will walk it across and put it into him."
"I don't have the words to describe what it feels like to have another chance at life,” said Sirk.
It will take two weeks for the couple to recover from the procedure.