Dear Operation Walk Team,

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for giving my mama, Gloria Palacio, the incredible gift of mobility.

My mom was one of the fortunate recipients of a knee replacement surgery during your recent mission in General Santos City. While I know this surgery will transform her life, I also want you to know how deeply it has touched ours.

As a daughter, it is incredibly painful to watch a parent lose their mobility so early in life. My mom was only in her 50s when chronic knee pain began to limit the things she loved to do. Over the years, I watched her endure pain with quiet strength, adapting her life around what her knees would allow instead of what her heart wanted.

Living abroad while my mom is in the Philippines means we only get to spend precious time together every few years. Those visits are something I treasure. I’ve always dreamed of taking her on walks, exploring new places, and making memories together. But each trip came with the heartbreaking reality that every outing had to be planned around her pain. It was difficult seeing someone you love hesitate to walk, struggle with stairs, or sit out activities because of discomfort.

Your generosity has given my mom far more than a new knee. You have given her freedom, independence, dignity, and hope. You have given her the chance to enjoy everyday moments without constant pain. And for our family, you have given us the priceless opportunity to spend our limited time together creating memories instead of worrying about her limitations. That is a gift beyond words.

I know Operation Walk is powered by volunteers—surgeons, nurses, therapists, coordinators, and countless others who generously give their time, expertise, and compassion. Please know that your work reaches far beyond the operating room. It changes not only the life of each patient, but also the lives of the people who love them.

Thank you for choosing to serve communities in need. Thank you for restoring hope where there was pain. Thank you for making it possible for families like ours to look forward to a future filled with more walks, more adventures, more laughter, and simply more time enjoying life together.

Your kindness and generosity will forever be a part of our family’s story, and we will always be grateful.

With heartfelt appreciation,
Glorissa Palacio

“As we prepare for patient screening this month, I wanted to share my mom, Melanie Rimando’s story.

My mother first started feeling severe pain in both knees in 2015. For as long as my brother and I can remember, she worked tirelessly to give us a comfortable life. But commuting to work every day in the Philippines is a brutal ordeal. Six days a week, she endured over three hours of daily travel. She had to run to catch buses and jeeps, get bumped around in massive crowds, and struggle to keep her balance while standing inside packed vehicles. The commute was so rough that she would sometimes lose her footing, falling knee-first onto the floor or violently slamming her knees against the hard metal seats and other passengers.

She endured all of that without a single complaint, secretly pushing through the agony just to show up for us. Eventually, the pain intensified so much that she could no longer work on-site. Over the last decade, her condition progressively worsened. Today, in 2026, our once-active mother is now mostly wheelchair-bound and cannot walk without assistance because of severe, bone-on-bone pain that she rates a 10 out of 10.

We took her to the doctors and X-rays confirmed she has bilateral end-stage osteoarthritis. But for a normal family in the Philippines, a double knee replacement costs an absolute fortune and is a financial impossibility. We felt completely helpless watching her suffer.

One night in November 2025, I couldn’t sleep. The image of my mother’s excruciating pain kept me awake. I spent the entire night researching alternatives like joint injections, only to find out that a full replacement was her only hope. It was a sleepless night, but it was the least I could do for my mother. She did everything in her power so we could run, even if it meant losing her ability to walk. That was the night I stumbled upon Operation Walk.

Finding your organization instantly brought hope back into our lives. I messaged the page right away to share her story, and a few days later, Miss Cami Ward replied with the life-changing news about the upcoming July 2026 mission at St. Elizabeth Hospital. Right now, we are looking forward to the final screening, which is happening in less than two weeks and doing our absolute best to keep her healthy and ready for it. 

This mission is truly the answer to a decade of prayers. I love my mom so much, and words cannot express how grateful we are that Operation Walk is giving her a second chance at a pain-free life.”

Thomas Alfonso Ng