Ask former math professor Gail Ulager whether angels exist, and she will likely direct you to local nail stylist Paula Miksic. As diverse as their two worlds might seem, their connection stems from a miracle – one that brought a woman in desperate need of a kidney to a woman with one to give.
"I had no other choice," says Ulager, 66. "I had to accept it if I wanted to live."
Fate had a different plan. Ulager was a friend and client of Emilio Cornacchione, one of Izzazu Salon's owners and a stylist, while Miksic was transitioning from salon receptionist to nail stylist.
"She called out of the blue and asked if I was interested in booking a manicure after my appointment with Emilio," Ulager recalls.
It was during that impromptu nail appointment in January 2005 that Ulager – usually guarded and fiercely private of her condition – opened up about her illness to Miksic, after the manicurist expressed concern over the dialysis marks on Ulager's arm.
"I told her that I was on dialysis and that I was going to eventually need a kidney transplant," Ulager recalls.
Miksic sensed the exhaustion in her words and took a step that would forever change the two women's lives. "She told me that she needed a kidney," Miksic says. "I didn't even hesitate. I told her I would give her one."
Leap of faith
Miksic's generosity took Ulager by surprise. "She would give me a kidney, just like that," Ulager says, snapping her fingers. "I thought, ‘Why is she doing this for me?'"
But that's Miksic – at 46, even her trademark three-inch stiletto heels can't slow her down. From contemplating surrogacy for a client experiencing difficulty conceiving, to spending the day with an elderly friend during his colonoscopy, she is a portrait of selflessness – a trait she picked up from her parents.
"My parents always taught us to give your last nickel – the shirt off your back," she says.
And her family stood behind her. "I went home and told them about Gail," says Miksic. "I told them I wanted to get tested to see if I was a match, and they told me to go for it."
At that point, Ulager realized the sincerity of Miksic's offer.
Miksic and Ulager were tested – and their leap of faith was rewarded. Thanks to advances in transplantation, precise blood-type matching is not vital. Nonetheless, their blood and tissue typing returned an exact match. For the two women, it was a sign.
But there were challenges. Doctors told Miksic that she would need to lose 50 pounds before she could donate. She was undeterred. "I am very, very headstrong," she says. And in less than five months, Miksic lost the weight.
Setbacks… and success
The surgery was scheduled – but once again setbacks delayed the process. In August 2005, the transplant was postponed due to Ulager's bloodwork, which indicated a problem with her liver. Doctors corrected the problem, but in September, there was a more serious complication: Ulager suffered a stroke, a rare side effect from the medication meant to prepare her body for the transplant, which left her partially blind.
Miksic was devastated, but found reassurance in Ulager. "You would have to experience dialysis to know what Paula did for me," Ulager says. "Even if we had been told blindness was a side-effect of the medication, I still would do it all over again."
Finally, in July of 2006, a team of local surgeons completed the transplant. Aside from a rejection episode, which was reversed, the transplant had finally transformed Ulager's life.
Defying the odds
Compassion was at the heart of this miracle, and it placed Miksic in a limited but distinguished group. Of the approximately 70,000 patients awaiting kidney transplants in 2006, just 6,500 of them received living donor transplants, says Dr. Henkie Tan, Miksic's transplant surgeon.
"Paula is representative of a group of very special people who would do anything for their loved ones, for their friends, for their fellow human beings," Tan says.
Despite these accolades, Miksic maintains her modesty. "I can donate a kidney, but I still don't cook," she says.
The experience left Miksic with a renewed sense of faith. She proudly displays a tattoo of rosary beads wrapped around her left ankle – the same side as the kidney she gave to Ulager.
"I owe a lot to faith," she says.
Ulager agrees. She is a living example of one woman's compassion and sacrifice. Despite her diminished eyesight, she has gained amazing clarity.
But most of all, she respects the power of a great manicure – especially at the hands of an angel named Paula Miksic.
