BARBOURSVILLE Ƶ Curt Nethercutt wanted to die.
HeƵd written letters to his and wife ErinƵs children telling them goodbye.
ƵI donƵt remember that,Ƶ Nethercutt said Tuesday from a recliner in his home, a look of astonishment on his face as Erin recounted the story to him.
Nethercutt, 53, is thankful heƵs alive after undergoing a double lung transplant Aug. 2. The former Marshall University and Huntington East High School football player developed a disease doctors couldnƵt label, other than to call it some kind of pneumonia but not bacterial or viral.
ƵI was working out on a Thursday and started running a low temperature,Ƶ Nethercutt said. ƵFriday, I started coughing up blood and I went to the hospital, where I received a steroid shot that helped for a couple of days.Ƶ
Erin, a nurse practitioner, thought it was a case of viral pneumonia, which had been going around. The couple went to Valley Health and Nethercutt started on antibiotics, but his health grew worse. On July 10, Nethercutt was admitted to St. MaryƵs Medical Center in Huntington. After one week, he was flown by Healthnet to the Ohio State Medical Center in Columbus.
ƵHe steadily went downhill,Ƶ Erin said.
Doctors were unsure of why, which scared Erin.
ƵIt looks like pneumonia on X-rays, but it thereƵs no known cause for it,Ƶ Erin said. ƵThey donƵt know exactly what it is. It was probably something autoimmune, but his makeup showed nothing.Ƶ
On July 25, doctors placed Nethercutt on an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machine designed to bypass the lungs of people too sick to breathe on their own.
ƵIt was hard seeing that in my neck,Ƶ Nethercutt said.
Nethercutt perked up. The following Saturday, he was sitting up, eating, breathing on his own and appeared on his way to recovering. That night, however, he took a turn for the worse.
NethercuttƵs oxygen levels were supposed to be in the 90s. TheyƵd dropped to the 70s.
ƵTwo more hours and IƵd have been dead,Ƶ said Nethercutt, a 24-year member of the Huntington Police Department who spent the last three years with the Marshall University P.D. ƵI told the nurses I didnƵt want to live. Erin talked some sense into me.Ƶ
Erin said she understood.
ƵWhen youƵre suffering, smothering, like trying to breathe with a pillow over your face, and not getting better, it was very frustrating,Ƶ she said. ƵWhen you canƵt breathe, youƵre going to be anxious.Ƶ
ƵIt was horrible,Ƶ said Nethercutt, a tight end with the Thundering Herd from 1989 through 1992. ƵIt was very hard. ItƵs still hard.Ƶ
On Aug. 2, doctors performed the transplant. Nethercutt was sedated and had little idea he even had a match. Erin balanced emotions of gratitude with the realization that for her husband of seven years to live, someone else had died.
ƵI was praying for a transplant, but at the same time somebody didnƵt know their days on this earth were numbered,Ƶ Erin said, beginning to cry. ƵThat was really, really hard. You donƵt want to pray for somebodyƵs demise. That was killing me.Ƶ
The Nethercutts know nothing about the donor other than that he or she lived in the Central Time Zone. Erin wrote a letter of thanks and condolences which the transplant organization delivered to the family.
Nethercutt, who said he has never smoked, said his lungs were black, hard and leathery, reminding him of baseball gloves.
ƵNo wonder he felt like that,Ƶ Erin said. ƵThey looked like heƵd been in a coalfield all his life.Ƶ
Nethercutt returned home Oct. 1, 68 pounds lighter than when he went in. He performs pulmonary exercises three times a week.
Nethercutt lifted his right pants leg and showed a remarkably thinner appendage than what he had six months ago.
ƵIƵm not very strong,Ƶ he said. ƵNot strong at all.Ƶ
Doctors disagree. Nethercutt was discharged a mere month after his transplant.
ƵThat never ever happens,Ƶ Erin said. ƵEverybody at appointments here were shocked they were already seeing him. TheyƵd never seen anybody that soon. Usually, people who undergo something such as this are in the hospital seven, eight, nine months. This is a miracle in itself. If he hadnƵt been in such good shape heƵd never have been out that soon.Ƶ
Nethercutt said the quick recovery wasnƵt just him.
ƵThis was a God thing,Ƶ he said.
Erin agreed. Curt and Erin each have three children from previous marriages, and each had a spouse die.
ƵI thought, thereƵs no way God is going to let them lose another parent,Ƶ Erin said. ƵThereƵs just no way. There were lots of prayers, lots of begging and pleading, Ƶplease donƵt take him from us.Ƶ Absolutely, I felt that comfort come.Ƶ
The disease nearly cost Nethercutt his life, and at one point he wished it had.
ƵI was ready to die,Ƶ he said. ƵI was at peace with it. ItƵs really weird. I was so comfortable with it. I was ready.Ƶ
Erin understood but told her husband to hang on.
ƵHeƵs gone through so much,Ƶ she said. ƵThe surgery, all the pills and therapy. IƵm sure he feels defeated with all the huge changes that have come. He feels it would be easier if he wasnƵt here.Ƶ
Nethercutt teared up at the memory. Then he smiled as he showed off a blanket covering him. One side was Marshall-themed, the other Ohio State.
ƵI didnƵt really like Ohio State, but I do now since they saved my life,Ƶ Nethercutt said, adding heƵll root for the Buckeyes on Saturday against archrival Michigan.
Before that, though, the family will celebrate Thanksgiving with an extra emphasis on being thankful.
ƵDinner doesnƵt matter,Ƶ Eric said. ƵNothing else matters other than your loved ones, your family, being able to spend one more day with Curt. One more Christmas. One more Thanksgiving.Ƶ
Nethercutt said he was told the average lung transplant recipient lives 16 years after the surgery but has met a man who is alive 30 years after undergoing the operation. Nethercutt said heƵll cherish every day, no matter how long he has left.
Curt and ErinƵs employers were gracious in the process. Erin said Valley Health allowed her all the time off she needed and guaranteed sheƵd have her job when she wanted to return. MUPD employees donated their sick days to Nethercutt, helping him not miss pay.
Nethercutt set goals he expects to reach.
ƵIƵm pretty weak, but IƵm getting there,Ƶ he said, taking several seconds to stand and walk across the room to the family Christmas tree. ƵIƵm working hard on the bike and the treadmill in therapy.Ƶ
HeƵs able to walk outside when the weather is nice and makes it up and down the steps. Nethercutt walked 2,000 steps Monday and made it to the polls on election day. He plans to drive soon and has been released to lift light items.
ƵHe will forever be the toughest guy I know,Ƶ said Megan Nethercutt, CurtƵs daughter, also a nurse. ƵI couldnƵt be prouder for how far heƵs come. This has been an eye-opening experience and we are so blessed.Ƶ
One of NethercuttƵs goals is to attend at least one Marshall football game next season. Nethercutt said encouragement from former teammates, coaches and others has overwhelmed him.
ƵEvery teammate I know sent me something,Ƶ said Nethercutt, a key member of the Thundering HerdƵs 1992 NCAA Division I-AA national championship team. ƵAll my friends, coaches. TheyƵve been great. Coaches Jim Donnan, Mickey Matthews, Mark Gale, theyƵve been great. Mike Bartrum called me all the time. Troy Brown, too. A lot of guys.Ƶ
Former Herd teammate Eric Gates said heƵs not surprised Nethercutt pulled through.
ƵThereƵs no doubt in my mind how tough Curt is, having practiced against him and played with him and coached him, knowing him,Ƶ Gates said. ƵMay God continue to heal him.Ƶ
Nethercutt said heƵs thankful.
ƵThey kept me going. I was in a bad, bad spot. ItƵs been tough and still is tough. Very tough,Ƶ he said. ƵTheyƵve helped me through it. Without Erin, I wouldnƵt have made it. IƵd have died if it werenƵt for her. I kept telling her I was suffering. ItƵs the hardest thing IƵve ever done in my life.
ƵShe never left my side and wouldnƵt let me give up. When I begged her to let me go, she saved my life.Ƶ
