Our Mission
In many areas of the world, people don’t have access to the same care that we have in the United States. Having a life-changing operation in these places is simply not an option. Many countries have poor healthcare, and even in countries that provide healthcare to their citizens, physicians don’t have access to training to provide specialty care like joint replacements. Implants are often not available, medical providers don’t have training and therefore these people are left to live a life of pain and disability.
This lack of access to joint replacement has a trickle-down effect much greater than just dealing with the pain of disabling arthritis.
Volunteer For Our Next Mission!
The joy that walking again can bring is priceless.
In May 2020 the Operation Walk Carolinas team will embark on a mission to provide specialty hip and knee surgeries to people in Honduras who desperately need them. In countries where people have little or no access to certain kinds of medical care, it can mean life with painful arthritis, in a wheelchair, or in a bed. In many cases, the inability to walk means families can’t make a living.
Joint replacement surgeries allow patients to go back to work, help provide for their families, and have a richer quality of life. They can enable a grandmother to spend quality time with her grandchildren, a father to put a roof over his family’s head, or a mother to stand and hold her child.
In Honduras we will work alongside local medical staff for a common goal: to help restore the basic function of walking to those who cannot.
The team is complete for OpWalk’s upcoming trip to Honduras. Stay tuned for updates of OpWalk Carolina’s next mission.
OPWALK VOLUNTEERS
Inspirational Stories
Two billion people across the globe have no access to medical care. They make up 35% of the world’s population but only 3.5% of surgeries take place in their countries. Many patients in lesser-developed countries have no access to fund costly operations. Oftentimes there are few trained surgeons and/or access to implants and other medical devices. OpWalk Carolinas is changing that.
Jose Walks Again
José lives in Panama and until recently, had been living with pain and immobility from hip dysplasia for most of his life. As the pain had gotten progressively worse, he […]
Ernesto
Training a Future Generation: A Cuban Medical Resident’s Knack for Orthopedics
Ernesto is 28 years old and like many other Cubans has never really been outside his country. There […]
Superman Takes Off
Everyone around Luis was walking.
For his entire life, something that came so easily to other people had been one of the most difficult things he had to manage, and a […]
THE COST
It typically costs $150,000+ to get our team of 20+ to another country with the right equipment and supplies for one trip. Here is how your generous funds may be used for our mission. Any donation small or large is appreciated.
- $5,000 Supplies critical medical equipment for the Operation Walk Team
- $2,500 Fully supports one joint replacement for a patient
- $1,000 Fully supports travel for a volunteer medical team member
- $500 Covers the cost of Physical Therapy for five patients
- $250 Covers all diagnostic tests (X-rays, etc.) for a patient having surgery
- $100 Covers one night in the hospital
- $50 Provides a walker for a patient after joint replacement
- $25 Covers transportation for the patient to and from the hospital
PARTNERS
