This story was originally published in the Miami Herald in partnership with the Lee Caplin School of Journalism & Media.
When the first spasm hit, it was sharp, sudden, and paralyzing. Tamika Luciano thought her life was ending. The entire left side of her body seized. Her face tightened, her limbs stiffened, and for terrifying seconds she could not breathe, speak, or call for help.
As Luciano’s multiple sclerosis advanced, then came the spasms, and walking became a challenge. When Luciano struggled to chew food without choking or felt like she was moving through concrete, her children held her steady. I drew my strength from them,” she recalled. “They kept me alive emotionally, mentally, and physically.”
That day, fear met fate. From that moment forward, Tamika’s life has been defined not by what happened to her, but by how she chose to respond.
“I thought I was having a stroke,” she recalled. It was December 2020, and that moment, which led to a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, marked the beginning of a new life chapter, one she now calls her rebirth. She was 39 years old.
Luciano’s story begins long before her diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, an incurable disease that can cause numbness, vision problems, fatigue, balance issues, and cognitive changes. Born in New York in 1981 to Trinidadian parents and raised in Miami, she grew up surrounded by culture, faith, and fierce family values. She excelled academically, attended American Senior High, and seemed poised for a bright future.
However, her adulthood was marked by heartbreak. Before her son, Antonio, was born, Luciano endured six miscarriages, painful losses that tested her mentally and physically. Antonio’s birth seemed a miracle, even though it required a 52-day stay in the neonatal intensive care unit.
The nurses who cared for him inspired her.
“I always wanted to be a nurse,” she said. “But seeing them care for my son with such compassion, that’s when I knew I had to do it.”
At the time, Luciano was a police dispatcher, a job she held for nine years. She helped people through emergencies but never got to see the outcomes. Nursing offered a chance to stay with people through not just fear, but healing.
With a newborn baby at home, breastfeeding through the night, running on two hours of sleep, and working, she enrolled in online nursing school. In 2011, she earned a bachelor’s degree and finished high among her class with summa cum laude at the University of Texas Arlington.
“When I put my mind to something, I do it,” she said. “I don’t come with brakes.”
Luciano’s children, Antonio, who was born in 2009, and Alana, born in 2013, are the heart of her resilience. Luciano says they could not be more different: Antonio is calm, thoughtful, and entrepreneurial. Alana is bold, witty, and fiercely independent. They all created a bond strengthened by love and forged through adversity.
As Luciano’s multiple sclerosis advanced, then came the spasms, and walking became a challenge. When Luciano struggled to chew food without choking or felt like she was moving through concrete, her children held her steady.
I drew my strength from them,” she recalled. “They kept me alive emotionally, mentally, and physically.”
Her ex-husband and co-parent remained a supportive father throughout her health battle. Her parents, sister, and nursing colleagues showered her with help. Through rides to work, cooked meals, and emotional support, they lifted Luciano.
“I was never alone,” she said as tears filled her eyes. “And not everyone with multiple sclerosis can say that.”
Luciano has worked tirelessly in Miami’s healthcare system, from her early days as a bedside nurse to her current role as an associate nurse manager in infection control at Jackson Memorial Hospital.
“She is helping people every single day,” said Marcia Harris, support groups and outreach manager at the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation, who nominated Tamika for the Miami Herald/el Nuevo Herald Wish Book. “She is so humble. When I told her she deserved to be nominated, she said ‘other people might need it more than me.’”
Before Luciano received her multiple sclerosis diagnosis, she pushed through headaches, numbness, leg pain, and intense fatigue until the day her symptoms could no longer be ignored.
“I had moments when I wondered if I would wake up and be able to move,” she said.
But she refused to let the disease own her. She changed her diet, juiced, exercised, and leaned into her support network. Eventually, under the care of her neurologist, she found a medication, Ocrevus, that offered relief and stability.
“I feel pain,” she said. “But pain reminds me that I am alive.”
Today, Luciano celebrates two birthdays: her actual one, and Dec. 20, 2020, the day she was diagnosed.
“I realized surviving was not enough,” she explained. “I had to live.”
Her Goal: Purse master’s degree
In the near future, Luciano’s goal is returning to school to pursue her master’s degree at Chamberlain University, hoping to teach nursing online in the future, a career path that will allow her to continue working even if her physical limitations increase.
For Wish Book, Luciano requested two items that for her would be life-changing. Her top request is a massage chair as it would help relieve daily pain, spasms, tension, and fatigue, especially during her late-night work shifts and early-morning recovery. The next request is a MacBook Pro to use in a nurse practitioner master’s program.
It would allow her to study from bed on difficult days and prepare for a future in teaching.
“I have never asked for anything just for me, so these items would be transformative,” she said quietly.
To readers and donors, Luciano has just one message: “Your gift won’t end with me, it will grow. Your generosity becomes a ripple in the world.”
