Juan Diaz is a 27 year old young man with a passion for living and for his art. When Juan was five years old he was playing with his cousin and fell because his knee was unstable. He was in horrible pain and had trouble walking due to his knee becoming very swollen. When he went to the doctor, he was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). At 9, he developed a passion for painting. He had real talent and it became one of his true joys. With limited mobility, most activities were impossible, therefore painting became his sanctuary. For the next 14 years Juan went through multiple treatments, but was not able to walk without significant help. The RA continued to break down his body. Some days he was in so much pain that he could not even move. Through some treatment he was able to walk on good days, but the trajectory of his health was becoming more evident, eventually he would not be able to walk.
The type of treatment that Juan needed was really not a possibility for someone living an hour outside of Granada. The RA had destroyed his hips and his right knee. At first he did not have a lot of pain in his fingers, the RA had caused severe deformities as it attacked the cartilage, but the pain increased to such levels that he could no longer paint. In 2016, he met Shelley Craft.
Shelley had traveled to Nicaragua on a medical mission with her daughter and after her mission ended, Craft and her daughter traveled to an island to relax for a few days. The manager of the eco-resort where they were staying asked if they had heard of a local artist who struggled with RA. They had not, but immediately wanted to meet him and see his art. When Shelley met Juan, it was heartbreaking for her. She met a young man that had been decimated by years of untreated RA.
The paintings and sketches of the self-taught artist showed great talent, however she knew that without treatment his art career would end. At that moment Craft vowed to Diaz and herself to somehow get him treatment. Shelley had quite a task ahead of her to get Juan the help he needed. She worked diligently and connected with Operation Walk and who decided to talk on Juan’s case. Through the coordination of several teams they focused on helping Juan. In January of 2017 the Mid-west chapter successfully completed a bi-lateral hip replacement, then the Los Angeles Operation Walk team replaced Juan’s Right knee in March. When he first met the LA team, he wanted to present one of his paintings to Dr. Dorr. It was a painting of the national bird, the Guradabarranco, which means the guard of the canyon. The title seems appropriate, as OpWalk is attempting to help guard Juan from the terrible effects of RA. After a successful knee replacement, Juan successfully completed his physical therapy and headed back home in the company of his sister and father.
Before he left, he competed several drawings of thanks for his donors and made many friends throughout the ward. In fact, the day of his release from the hospital he did not want to leave until he knew that one of his fellow patients was assured safe travel home. We wish this caring and talented young man all the best during his recovery and are honored to have met him during our latest visit to Hospital Roberto Calderon.
