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Operation Walk



On Thursday, August 23, 2007, Lt. Governor Pat Quinn will join with a volunteer medical team from Illinois that will be traveling to Ecuador in November on a medical mission to perform 45 knee replacements on impoverished patients who otherwise could not afford joint replacement surgery.

Quinn and the doctors from Operation Walk Chicago will ask Illinois citizens to donate crutches, canes and walkers for the medical mission.

Hip and knee replacement surgery in the United States has emerged as one of the most cost-effective and quality-of-life enhancing procedures in medicine, more than 600,000 surgeries performed annually.

In countries such as Ecuador, joint replacements are rare therefore patients with treatable joint diseases live with constant pain and suffering.

�Using minimally invasive surgical techniques, the Operation Walk medical team is able to improve the quality of life for each patient who suffers from a treatable joint disease,� Quinn said. �There is no reason for patients in developing countries to suffer when the United States has the resources and technology available to treat those in need.�

Operation Walk is a not-for-profit, volunteer medical services organization that performs free hip and knee replacement surgeries for impoverished patients in developing countries while also teaching and training local healthcare professionals. Since its inception in 1994, Operation Walk has performed more than 1,300 surgeries worldwide.

The Operation Walk Chicago division has successfully completed two medical missions to China, performing 139 joint replacement surgeries.

Joint replacement surgeries allow patients to experience a rapid recovery � regaining mobility within a few days after surgery, and dramatically reducing suffering, quickly returning patients to active lifestyles.

�Through the donation of crutches, canes and walkers from people across the Land of Lincoln, Operation Walk can improve the quality of life of disadvantaged patients in Ecuador,� Quinn said.

All donated items can be dropped off at any of the 40 Chicagoland AthletiCo locations. AthletiCo physical therapists will also take part in the medical mission to Ecuador.

The Lt. Governor will be joined by Consul of Ecuador, Elsa Lopez; President of Former President�s Committee of the Ecuadorian Civic Society in Chicago, Oswaldo Alarcon; President of the Octopaxi Association in Chicago, Jorge Burbano; Co-Directors of Operation Walk Chicago, S. David Stulberg, MD and Victoria Brander, MD; and Physical Therapist from AthletiCo, Amy Nelson.

For more information about the program or to make a monetary donation to support Operation Walk Chicago, call Administrative Director of Operation Walk Chicago Laci Leaders at 312-475-5566.