Deborah Calmeyer has always loved fashion, with a particular fondness for high heels.  She would buy six-inch Louboutins in every colour and loved wearing them.

Unfortunately, several years ago her high heels caused her to fall while visiting a Manhattan restaurant. After going to the hospital, x-rays revealed a bone chip on Deborah’s toe. To her relief, the doctors said this wasn’t a major injury and she would recover with physical therapy treatments.

A couple of years later, she was giving a speech at New York’s Norwood Club when her toe began to throb with pain. Over the next few weeks she would experience more pain to the point where she could barely walk a city block.

After meeting with medical specialists, she discovered that the cartilage that sits between the big toe and the foot had disintegrated. This caused the toe bone to rub against the foot bone — causing a great deal of pain.

The answer was going to be surgery, which would involve months in a wheelchair and eliminate the possibility of ever wearing heels again. Deborah was horrified by the thought of never strapping on Louboutins again, so she looked for an alternative.

One of Deborah’s friends told her about the regenerative capacity of stem cells. Researchers have found that stem cells can be used to rebuild tissue in the body including ligaments and tendons.

After performing some research, Deborah found Dr Angel Ruíz-Cotorro from Barcelona who had previously used stem cell transfusions to treat Rafael Nadal’s spine. Dr Ruíz-Cotorro has been researching the use of stem cells for tissue regeneration for many years and was a leading expert in the field. He had already used stem cells to treat many conditions including osteoarthritis, pseudoarthrosis, degenerative disc disease, and osteonecrosis.

Deborah eventually received a stem cell transplant. After a few months, the doctors found that her cartilage had recovered so much that her injured foot looked nearly identical to the other one. She is now pain-free and enjoying her mobility thanks to the regenerative capacity of stem cells.

Source: How Stem Cell Science Saved One Woman’s Feet From Stiletto Disaster