Fifteen years of dancing left Ashleigh with a painful bone spur and degenerative arthritis in her first metatarsophalangeal joint, which made it difficult to keep up with her young son, Beckett.
?As a dancer, you?re really hard on your feet,? said Ashleigh. ?Sometimes you power through an injury when you should be taking care of it, so I?m sure at some point I injured my foot and then it just got progressively worse.?
As her foot condition made it more and more difficult to stay active and chase Beckett around, she knew she needed to see a doctor, who then suggested surgery to help
correct the problem.?During the procedure, her surgeon removed the bone spur and then used AlloWrap? DS to cover the cartilage degradation on her joint. AlloWrap? DS is derived from human amniotic membrane from a donated placenta directly following an elective C-section.?Amniotic membrane is rich in growth factors and can be used as a protective barrier following surgical intervention.
One of her most memorable moments throughout this process came when Ashleigh received her Pathways Card, which is a way for tissue recipients to send letters of thanks to their donor family. Since Ashleigh received tissue from a living donor, she can send a letter of gratitude to the woman who donated the tissue.
Ashleigh is still in the process of recovering from her surgery, but she is back on her feet and keeping up with Beckett.?Though she won?t return to dancing, Ashleigh?s surgery helped alleviate her pain so she can be more active. She looks forward to running, biking and enjoying time outside with her family.
?It was inspiring to know that someone made a decision to help me without knowing me, which speaks to the selflessness and generosity of all donors.?
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