Kacey Ruegsegger Johnson never expected to be here.
Trapped in the Columbine High School library during the deadly mass shooting that happened there in 1999, she was badly injured as a result, suffering severe injuries to her arm and torso. So bad, in fact, that she was not expected to survive.
But survive she did, with the help of a Denver South-based company called AlloSource. Headquartered in Centennial, AlloSource has, for 25 years now, been working to advance the science and use of transplantable allogenic cells and tissues, providing materials that help patients like Kacey heal.
In her case, a tissue donation helped doctors save her arm and eventually return to a full and active life. She was honored recently at an event recognizing both the 20th anniversary of the Columbine tragedy as well as AlloSource’s 25 years in business.
“Tissue recipients like Kacey continue to inspire us to maximize the sacred gift of human tissue donation,” Thomas Cycyota, AlloSource president and CEO, said in a statement announcing the company’s 25th anniversary. “In the past 25 years, the allografts we have created from tissue donors have helped millions of patients heal from orthopedic, spine, burn and wound procedures. Each one has a story and hearing these stories deeply touches our employees, our partners and our communities.”
AlloSource is a great success story for the Denver South healthcare community.
The company has expanded to over 460 employees here in Colorado, plus more than 50 positions in satellite offices around the country. It offers life-saving and life-enhancing solutions in orthopedic, spine, burn and wound procedures to help restore patient health and mobility, as well as cell-based products, fresh cartilage tissue for joint repair and skin allografts to help heal severe burns. The company continues to grow and improve patient care through the development and implementation of innovative regenerative therapies.
We couldn’t be happier that a company like AlloSource chooses to call the Denver South region home, and we’re looking forward to the next 25 years.
