There are some stories of day-to-day life that just don’t make the cut for posts here; not because I think they’re not worthy of being told, but because they’re not my stories to tell. My fiance is a very private person so normally I don’t share much of his story unless it’s the funny things he says that make for fabulous Facebook status updates.
Over the weekend, however, a chapter in his story became so remarkable that I can not NOT write about it. Thom was fortunate enough to be a part of Operation Walk USA, an organization that provides hip or knee replacement surgeries free of charge for patients without medical insurance.
Thanks to a wild youth and crazy shenanigans like motor cross and ice boat racing, Thom’s hip has progressively deteriorated over the years and in the last year or so has become so debilitating that even standing for long periods of time had became impossible. And, walking? Painful to say the very least.
The wonderful, amazing team at St. Vincent Infirmary in Little Rock provided the venue for this life changing event and it was sponsored by outside donors. Hospital volunteers and support staff assisted the surgeons, provided after-care, and lent their skills to treating eighteen patients on the day of the surgeries.
We could not be more thankful or grateful for this opportunity and for the level of care that we received.
On an even more fun note: Both Thom and I were interviewed about our experience by two different news crews and they appeared on the nightly news Saturday night. I’m not sure why I moved my head so much while talking. I was a bit nervous being on camera. Thom was much more laid back…it might have been the meds, though. hahaha
GINA! THIS IS AWESOME. IT REQUIRES MY ALL CAPS INTERNET VOICE.
I am so!!!! elated for you both. That is beyond wonderful.