In 2022, following our mission to Havana, Cuba, I received a message from David Diaz. The young man explained that he’d been suffering for over ten years from pain and had lost his ability to walk. He had tried in vain to find help in his community, but due to a lack of resources, his best efforts had come up empty. At 32 and a father of three young children, David feared his life would be defined by his wheelchair. He wrote that our organization gave him hope and could we please find a way to help him. Through two years of coordination between team leaders, staff and coordinators at Hospital Fructuoso, David, and myself, we were finally able to meet in person last November.

Below, in his own words, is the story of his journey to freedom.

-Cami Ward

In 2010, I suffered a crisis of severe lumbar pain, which kept me from being able to stand for over a week. Little did I know that it would start a pattern of pain and loss of freedom.

As time passed, the events became more frequent and lasted longer. I went to see specialists who suggested treatments such as medications, acupuncture, ozone and magnetic treatments, electrical currents to stimulate my muscles, physical therapy, and targeted exercises. They were all in vain. The episodes kept coming and so did the pain.

In 2020, my situation worsened, and I was unable to walk unassisted, having to use canes and taking up to twelve pills a day to muddle through the intensity of the pain. I was experiencing limitations that constricted my physical abilities and didn’t allow me to live a common, ordinary life. Going to work, leaving my home to shop or visit friends, helping my family, and taking care of my own children were all out of reach. The simple acts of bathing, sitting in a chair, and going to bed at night were almost impossible for me.

I was diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis in 2021, an inflammatory condition affecting the spine and joints, which connect the pelvis to the lower spine. It had advanced to both of my hips, making it necessary for both joints to be replaced. I looked for opportunities for surgery at several hospitals in the country but was told each time that they did not have the resources to help me. I had almost given up hope until March of 2022.

This is when I discovered Operation Walk. I learned that the organization helps people, who like me, need hip and knee replacement in underserved areas. I was desperate to contact them and hoped beyond hope that they were the answer to my prayers.

I began writing to them and to Hospital Fructuoso Rodriguez until 2024, when my dream came true and I received a bilateral hip replacement. I did suffer some postoperative complications from a hairline fracture in my femur, which delayed the start of my rehabilitation.

Today, almost six months after both of my hips were replaced, I feel quite good. I still experience pain in my muscles, but those pains are unrelated to the ones I had before surgery. I think I am more sensitive to regular aches and pains now, because I no longer have to take pills for pain like I did previously.

I continue my daily rehabilitation processes. I still need to regain elasticity and strength in my muscles, which will eliminate the pains I mentioned above. Some days I walk with a cane but other days I walk better inside my home without one.

Thank you, Operation Walk, for helping me to regain my life. With the gift of surgery and I am on the road to recovery. Millions of thanks and blessings to everyone, the volunteers and donors who make these miracles possible.

David Diaz

Bilateral Hip Replacement

Cuba, 2024

David walking today, 6 months after bilateral hip replacement