May's Story
May is a world-class martial arts competitor and popular teacher in the San Francisco Bay area. May teaches 25 hours a week plus practices for competitions.
In 2005, May’s left knee began to swell after workouts, and physical therapy wasn’t helping. She met with Dr. Warren King, but resisted surgery because it would interfere with her competitions. First cortisone injections and later hyalgan injections were used to lubricate her knee, but after three months the initial positive effects wore off.
In November 2005, Dr. King spoke to May about an allograft transplant. At first she felt strange about allograft tissue, but May decided that an allograft would be her best chance at resuming a normal life. Once donor tissue became available, Dr. King performed the surgery and her recovery was quite remarkable. Physical therapy to make her knee stronger was tough, but worth it.
May says her knee is almost 100% where it was before and it does not limit her in competition. In 2006, as a member of the US Wushu team, she won two individual World Championship medals in China. When she returned home, she sent the medals and a note to AlloSource, asking that the medals be given to the donor family. She recognizes that without their kindness, she would never have been able to compete again.
May continues to teach and compete with a new life and vigor to her practice. She views her new knee as a gift and intends to keep making a difference with it.
