Alexa Blaine

I am the recipient of a meniscus knee tissue transplant. My whole life has been centered around volleyball and I had three previous knee surgeries prior to the transplant itself.

My dream was to play volleyball in college so I kept having surgery in hopes of having knees that allowed me to still play. After my third surgery I was told that the meniscus was torn up to the point where I would not be able to salvage it.

I was put on the transplant list that next week and a week later I received a meniscus transplant from a donor.

I hadn’t really heard of many people that have been recipients of things other than organs. To me, that meant a lot because I had no idea that transplants went beyond just organ donation and includes tissue and cornea donation too.

Because of that selfless gift and second chance, I decided to save my knee from playing any more sports and to work in medicine to give back from what I really benefited from.

Medicine has always been kind of the central part of my life, so the donation and being a recipient of that gift inspired me to work more in the medical field.

The donation has touched my life so much. It’s been life changing, honestly, because at that point, I had no idea that I would have another future because I thought my future was volleyball. And I had not experienced zero pain for a very long time because I have had knee surgeries since I was 14.

Everyone is going through something and having physical pain relieved is just amazing. I wish I could say ‘thank you’ to my donor but being a part of their selfless act to give back just goes beyond words. Someone gave their life to save so many people and I was impacted in the best way.\