2023 Ecuador mission — a great success!
Our friends and patients in Ecuador have incredible resiliency and patience. We last saw them in April of 2019. When we left, we promised to return the next year with the intention of operating on the other hip of some of our 2019 patients and doing new surgery on at least 12 more patients.
Fast forward to 2023. After four long years we return to resume our long-awaited mission! While waiting to return, we partnered with Rotary International to help our sponsored hospital, San Juan de Dios, to buy and install a new sterilizer for cleaning instruments. What a success that was and it has enabled us to better clean and sterilize our instruments with much more efficiency and therefore decrease our surgery turn around times.
Normally the Ecuador mission does more complicated surgeries for high riding hip dysplasia patients. A shortage of implants, worldwide, has meant that we were unable to do this type of surgery this year. But we were still able to do primary hip surgeries on 32 patients, using 2 OR’s over 4 days. This was a wonderful outcome. Some of our patients have been waiting 12 years or more for their surgeries. We were so glad we were able to make a difference in their lives.
Of course, none of this would have been possible without the dedication of our volunteers. These professionals of Doctors, Nurses, Anesthesiologists, Physiotherapists, Sterile Procession staff, Pedorthists and general volunteers, give freely of their time and expertise to make it all happen.
A special thanks, to you, our donors! You continue to believe in our work, and we so appreciate your support. Our patients are forever grateful for your generosity. As one of our patients said:
“You have given me a new life, blessings to all of your donors.”
Mother-daughter duo!
On April 27, 2023, Operation Walk accomplished a first! Right before portering two patients to the operating room, the nurses discovered that they were a mother and daughter duo.
Both patients – Mom Maria (57) and daughter Rosa (37) – had arrived at the hospital unable to walk and left two days later putting one foot in front of the other (on crutches donated by Operation Walk). Almost in unison, they proudly said, “We can walk now.”
The duo was easy to spot in their pink toques and bunny slippers. Mom Maria said she most looks forward to being able to go out of her house, while daughter Rosa is excited to be able to dance with her two children.
A really good favour
Wearing traditional Ecuadorian dress, 66-year-old Margarita sat patiently in the busy hospital corridor. She had travelled over 7 hours down from the volcanic, mountainous region for her surgery.
Margarita was in a lot of pain. She had been living with pain for over 15 years, each year getting worse to the point of barely being able to walk. This made life as a farmer very difficult. When asked about the difference the surgery would make, Margarita said she would be able to work the land again and provide for her family. They grow potatoes, quinoa and corn, and raise a few chickens and guinea pigs (a local meat source).
Margarita was very grateful to Operation Walk for the “really good favour.” And what a return-favour it was for us to see Margarita walking on crutches pain-free!