Lucinda Mullins lay on her Kentucky home’s bathroom floor last month in excruciating pain from a kidney stone. She was vomiting and had developed a fever and back pain, so she yelled for her husband, DJ, to help.
Washington
Her kidney stone was infected. She’ll lose her legs and arms to survive.
Her kidney stone had become infected and caused sepsis, the immune system’s extreme attempt to fight an infection, which can cause organ failure and death. Doctors gave Mullins medication that sent all her blood flowing to her organs — and restricted it from her less vital arteries in her legs and arms.
After more than a week of treatment, doctors told Mullins that her key organs were healthy. But there was another problem: The tissue in her legs and forearms had died and parts of the limbs needed to be amputated.
“If that was the sacrifice that I had to make to be alive,” Mullins, 41, told The Washington Post, “I was okay with it.”
Mullins’s legs were amputated from above her knees last month, and she began physical therapy on Tuesday to prepare for prostheses. She said everything below her elbows will be amputated near the end of January.
Doctors “give you that rare chance of something bad happening … but I would have never dreamed [of this],” Mullins said.
Mehdi Shishehbor, the president of an Ohio hospital’s heart and vascular institute, said that kidney stone infections rarely lead to amputations. Some patients are treated and cured of sepsis — which can result from many illnesses and infections — with antibiotics, he said.
However, Shishehbor said that amputations are a better outcome than many of his sepsis patients experience. Nearly 270,000 people in the United States die of sepsis annually, according to the National Institutes of Health.
“Saving the life is more important than losing a limb,” Shishehbor said, “even though nobody wants to lose a limb.”
Mullins said she was diagnosed with kidney stones just over a year ago.
A urologist removed a stone in her left kidney in October, but the stone in her right kidney didn’t require immediate surgery, Mullins said. The urologist gave her a stent, a small plastic tube that helps urine move from the kidney to the bladder, in hopes of making it easier to eventually remove the stone, Mullins said.
After she took out the stent a few days later, Mullins said she felt sick. DJ drove her to Ephraim McDowell Fort Logan Hospital in Stanford, Ky., where Mullins answered doctors’ questions before she started to feel lightheaded — a sepsis symptom.
Mullins’s blood pressure was low, and a CT scan showed that her kidney stone was infected and her organs were failing. A few hours later, she was taken by ambulance to a UK HealthCare hospital in Lexington, Ky.
Doctors there placed Mullins on a ventilator and gave her dialysis, which removes excess water and toxins from blood when the kidneys are not working. Mullins was sedated for about a week while doctors treated her and tried to save her legs with an unsuccessful fasciotomy — a procedure to restore blood flow to dying tissue. Mullins doesn’t remember much from that week, but she said her family members — who made T-shirts that said #LucindaStrong — were scared she was going to die.
On Dec. 18, Mullins was laying in her bed when she asked a doctor to not sugarcoat her situation. He said that she needed amputations but would live.
On Dec. 19, Mullins went into surgery and awoke about five hours later without legs. The following day, Mullins said she cried when she saw her sons — 12-year-old Teegan and 7-year-old Easton — for the first time in nearly two weeks.
Mullins said she’s typically independent, but for a few days after surgery, DJ carried her around the hospital and fed her. Her twin sister, Luci, helped Mullins bathe in what they called “spa day.” Easton brushed his mom’s hair and applied her lip balm. She soon learned to use a wheelchair.
About a week after her amputation, Mullins said she went into surgery to remove the kidney stone. She feared something would go wrong, causing more health problems, but the procedure went smoothly. She and DJ couldn’t believe such a small mass had created so many problems.
On Monday, Mullins was transferred to Cardinal Hill Rehabilitation Hospital in Lexington. She’s strengthening her core, practicing moving from her bed to her wheelchair and stretching what remains of her legs and arms. Her hands, which she said “shriveled up” after the blood flow never returned, will be amputated later this month.
In about four months, Mullins said she plans to add prostheses for her upper and lower body. She hopes to eventually return as a nurse at an OB/GYN practice in Stanford.
Mullins’s friend created an online fundraiser to help pay for an elevator, a walk-in shower and other renovations for Mullins’s house. She’s scheduled for more surgeries and rehab over the next few months, but she said she’s looking forward to eventually returning home and seeing her sons every day.
“[I’ve learned] not to take my time or my family or my friends or anything for granted,” Mullins said.
An 18-year-old who was shot and wounded in Northwest D.C.’s Tenleytown neighborhood on Thursday afternoon has died, authorities say.
Brady Flowers Jr., of Southwest, was the victim, police said in an update Saturday.
Flowers was found shot in the 4500 block of Wisconsin Avenue NW, behind the CVS store. Jackson-Reed High School and American University are nearby.
Flowers was rushed to a hospital with life-threatening injuries and pronounced dead a day later, police said.
Police said 10-15 teens were seen running after the gunshots.
An investigation is underway. Anyone with potentially relevant information is asked to contact police.
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Washington
Governor Moore Continues “Delivering for Maryland” Tour in Washington County, Highlighting Transportation Infrastructure, Economic Development, and Early Childhood Education
Updated:
ANNAPOLIS, MD — Governor Wes Moore today continued his statewide “Delivering for Maryland” tour with a series of engagements in Washington County, highlighting vital investments in local transportation infrastructure, manufacturing job growth, and early childhood education. The governor emphasized state contributions to modernize the Hagerstown Regional Airport, toured the state-of-the-art Hitachi Rail facility, and celebrated the opening of a new child care center in the South End of Hagerstown funded by the administration’s historic ENOUGH Initiative.
“From investing $1.5 million to update Hagerstown Regional Airport’s aging control tower to supporting 1,300 jobs at Hitachi Rail, the Moore-Miller administration is delivering for Hagerstown, Washington County, and Western Maryland,” said Gov. Moore. “Through our administration’s ENOUGH Initiative partnerships and investments, we’ve tripled child care capacity in the South End of Hagerstown — because no parents should be forced to pick between staying in the workforce or securing quality care for their kids.”
The governor began the day at the Hagerstown Regional Airport, touring the Air Traffic Control Tower and airport grounds. During the visit, Governor Moore highlighted the State’s $1.5 million Fiscal Year 2027 investment to complete the design for a critical replacement of the airport’s aging air traffic control facility. As a primary airport in the Maryland Aviation System Plan, the Hagerstown Regional Airport is a vital economic engine for Washington County, supporting more than 1,800 jobs and generating over $140 million in local business revenue.
Following the airport tour, Governor Moore visited the Hitachi Rail STS facility alongside Congresswoman April McClain Delaney, Senator Mike McKay, Senator Paul Corderman and state transportation leaders. The governor toured the factory floor and rode a test train to observe the manufacturing process. Opened in September 2025 with the support of a $1.6 million state conditional loan, the 307,000-square-foot, carbon-neutral facility is a $100 million capital investment by Hitachi. The factory supports 1,300 jobs — including 460 newly created jobs — and is actively manufacturing railcars for both the Maryland Transit Administration and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.
“Hitachi Rail has built a cutting-edge model for advanced manufacturing here in Western Maryland which is focused on delivering clean, safe, efficient regional transportation across our state and the rest of the country,” said Congresswoman April McClain Delaney. “This facility is powered by Maryland’s second-to-none workforce and world-class innovation environment. I’m proud to work with Governor Moore and our public, private, and philanthropic partners to drive global investment that supports jobs and economic growth along our I-270 Tech Corridor.”
Governor Moore concluded the day at the Children’s Learning and Empowerment Center in the South End of Hagerstown, where he met with parents, children, and community leaders. During the visit, the Governor highlighted the administration’s ENOUGH Initiative, which provided critical support for the center’s opening. The new facility is a major win for the community, tripling local childcare capacity with 24 new slots and generating six new early childhood education jobs.
The Children’s Learning and Empowerment Center’s opening was accelerated by a $100,000 investment from San Mar Family & Community Services, the ENOUGH grantee in Hagerstown. ENOUGH grant funding was also supplemented by a $100,000 philanthropic contribution from the Bainum Family Foundation — a member of the ENOUGH Alliance — to complete necessary facility upgrades. The center’s completion underscores the strength of the ENOUGH Initiative’s public-private partnerships to deliver on community priorities and work towards ending child poverty.
Governor Moore’s visit to Washington County follows the third stop of his “Delivering for Maryland” tour in Montgomery County, where he marked a historic milestone by installing the final segment of rail for the Purple Line. This installation completes the 16.2-mile light rail corridor connecting Bethesda and New Carrollton, with passenger service expected to begin in late 2027. The governor also visited Max’s Best Ice Cream in Bethesda, a local business dedicated to creating meaningful employment opportunities for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities through the Best Buddies Jobs program.
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A man charged with attacking the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner is seeking to disqualify top justice department officials from direct involvement in prosecuting him because they could be considered victims or witnesses in the case, creating a potential conflict of interest.
The acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, and US attorney Jeanine Pirro were attending the 25 April event at the Washington Hilton hotel when Cole Tomas Allen allegedly ran through a security checkpoint and fired a shotgun at a Secret Service officer.
In a court filing late on Thursday, Allen’s attorneys argued that it created at least the appearance of a conflict of interest for Blanche and Pirro to be making any prosecutorial decisions in the case.
“As this case proceeds closer to trial, the country and the world will continue to wonder – how can the American justice system permit a victim to prosecute a criminal defendant in a case involving them?” defense attorneys Eugene Ohm and Tezira Abe wrote.
Ohm and Abe, who are assistant federal public defenders, suggested that the appointment of a special prosecutor might be warranted. They urged US district judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump nominee assigned to Allen’s case, to disqualify Pirro, Blanche and possibly other justice department officials from direct involvement in the investigation and prosecution.
“Both heard gunshots, which presumably forced them to duck below the tables with the rest of the occupants. They were quickly evacuated. Shortly thereafter, they learned that law enforcement believed the target was certain administration officials,” Ohm and Abe wrote.
Pirro said her office would respond to the defense lawyers’ arguments in its own court filing.
“We will not tolerate people who come to the District of Columbia to engage in antidemocratic acts of political violence; and we will prosecute all such acts to the fullest extent of the law,” Pirro said in a statement.
Allen is scheduled to be arraigned on Monday on further charges in an indictment handed up Tuesday by a grand jury in Washington.
The charges include attempting to assassinate Donald Trump, who is a longtime friend of Pirro. Blanche served as a personal attorney for Trump before joining the justice department last year. Blanche, through a spokesperson, referred a request for comment to Pirro’s office. Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, is also charged with assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon and two additional firearms counts.
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