PATIENT STORIES

Donation Comes Full Circle For Tissue Recipient Turned Doctor

When Rachel met with Dr. Brian Cole of Rush University Medical Center, she learned she was a candidate for a meniscus transplant. Since donor meniscus tissue is matched to the recipient by size, she… Read more

Live donor cartilage allows musician to return to the stage

When Diana Ladio could no longer perform without knee pain, she found donor cartilage to be her answer Read more

Former Competitive Athlete Expresses Gratitude For Allograft Donation

Alyssa grew up in the Midwest as an extremely active girl who enjoyed playing sports. By the time she was fifteen years old, she underwent her first knee surgery. She initially tore her ACL and… Read more

Cartilage Transplant Patient Is Grateful To Donor For Rejuvenated Knee

At 42, Justin Hamilton was toward the end of the age spectrum for cartilage transplant. Dr. Rachel Frank performed an arthroscopy in October 2019 to assess his prior damage – correcting problems… Read more

Remarkable Attitude and Fierce Determination Helps Teen From “Down Under” Beat the Odds

Hannah was only ten years old when she was diagnosed with Osteochrondritis Dessicans (OCD). Four years later, she started experiencing aches in her knees which led to numerous operations. In 2018,… Read more

Former College Athlete Gives Unique Perspective on Knee Cartilage Injury

Joshua grew up in Southern California playing about every sport imaginable sometimes playing hockey and football games in the same day. No matter what sport or how many thousands of… Read more

Wedding Wish Comes True For Allograft Recipient

Ellie discovered that she had a condition called “osteochondritis dissecans.” Many questions came to mind, but the most important one brought her to tears: “I’m getting married… Read more

A Real Life Fairytale

Dan is a rep from Boston who provided firsthand insight into what it takes to make someone’s dreams come true. Read more

Spare The Scalpel: A Surgeon’s Perspective on the Future of Orthopedic Medicine

Dr. Brian Cole from Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush discusses the evolution of orthopedic/sports medicine and the role of regenerative medicine and medical technology…past, present and future. Read more

Allograft Changes Recipient’s Outlook on Life

For Kyle Oliverio, sports were important growing up because it was about family. When thinking about what the donor tissue meant to Kyle and how it changed his life, he finished with this… Read more

Active Father Finds Healing After Tissue Transplant

Though he lived with pain for several years after his first surgery, his wakeup call came in early 2014 when Phil and his wife welcomed a beautiful baby boy. He knew he needed to take action. Read more

Three-Sport Athlete Gets Back in the Game

Jake’s life was never without sport: as one season ended, another began. Soccer became basketball, basketball became track, and he enjoyed the athletic challenge of each sport. However, constant… Read more

Gold Medal Gift

May is a world-class martial arts competition medalist and school teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area. May teaches twenty-five hours a week while preparing for competitions. Read more

A Small Miracle

At the beginning of summer, five-year-old Elizabeth, began complaining about an ache in her arm. The big sister of a newborn, Elizabeth’s parents wrote it off to the “typical”… Read more