Operation Rainbow:
Mission to
Ica, Peru.
Testimonial from one of the Operation Rainbow Team Members:
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Having the opportunity to take care of Natalie
two years in a row in Ica, Peru was such a rewarding experience.
I remember it so clearly; as I walked down the hallway of the hospital,
this little girl looked at me and started smiling as if she knew me. Then
I realized who this beautiful girl was, Natalie, one of the memorable patients
from the previous year.
It was quite a reunion with stickers ending up all over our faces and a lot
of laughing being done by Natalie, her mother, and myself. She was back again
for the Operation Rainbow team to continue their work on her legs and to give
her the chance to walk even better then what the last year's operation had accomplished.
With tears in her eyes, Natalie's mother told me that Natalie's life had improved
drastically over the last year and that kids no longer made fun of her, all because of us.
How amazing to see this wonderfully happy little girl acting as if being back in
the hospital for more surgery was the happiest day of her life. It is moments like
these that make being apart of Operation Rainbow one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.
Operation Rainbow:
Mission to Fundación Tierra Nueva, Quito,
Ecuador.
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In November of 2006, Operation Rainbow had its first mission to Quito, Ecuador, to a charity hospital named Fundación Tierra Nueva. With the support of the local social workers, doctors, nurses, and technicians, we were able to perform life-changing
surgeries for children ranging in age from 5 1/2 months to 16 years. All of the children, for one reason or another, touched our hearts, but oddly enough, it was one of the few adult patients we treated that really impressed us with his strength,
determination, and good humor.
Heriberto Luis Colorado ("Luis") lives six hours from Quito in an agricultural coop where he works the fields from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m., planting corn and other grains. He is married and has two daughters aged 11 and 13 years, who he supports on a wage
of $5 a day. When Luis was 17 years old, he was injured playing soccer. After his injury, he continued to feel pain, and with time and perhaps as a result of the work he does, both his hips progressively became completely ankylosed in bad position.
His right leg was permanently rotated 45 degrees outwards and hyper extended, giving him a cross-legged stance, and a sideways gait resembling that of a crab. Walking was very difficult and painful for him, yet he lived this way for over 20 years
and continued working in the fields supporting his family.
With the help of a doctor at a local copper mine, Ascendant Copper, SA, Luis was able to make the 6 hour trip with his wife to Operation Rainbow’s Sunday clinic in Quito. Our doctors performed a realignment osteotomy on the second day of surgeries,
and the transformation was amazing. The day after his surgery, and with crutches provided by Operation Rainbow, Luis was up and walking the hallway. He was smiling from ear to ear, even though he must have been in serious post-op pain. He walked so
much that his leg started to swell, and he was forced to rest in bed for the remainder of the day. Luis’s stance is now much improved, his legs no longer crossed.
Speaking with Luis later, he told us he feels reborn, and he can’t wait to get back home and to work so he can continue to support his family.
Luis still needed a total hip replacement on the left side, and on a recent mission to Cuenca, Ecuador, in October, Operation Rainbow performed that operation. Luis will now be able to live pain free and to walk with a much better gait. We were all very pleased to see Luis again and to witness his determination to get on with life.
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