Day 4: Tuesday, March 4, 2025 // FIP Blog
This morning started with a fun challenge. At 5:15 a.m., a HITT cardio workout had many of us doing more push-ups than we had bargained for. After breakfast and our morning devotional, the team gathered for a group picture, a snapshot of the unity and dedication that fuels this mission. Then, it was time to head back to the hospital where a new day of healing awaited.
The morning rounds were filled with high-fives, handshakes, and heartfelt check-ins. Doctors visited yesterday’s patients, ensuring that their surgeries had gone well and that the road to recovery was beginning smoothly. Seeing the smiles, the relief, and the gratitude on their faces was a reminder of why we’re here.
Today also marked the first steps, both literally and figuratively, toward a pain-free future. Standing up for the first time after surgery is no small feat, but our dedicated team guided them through the process with patience, encouragement, and grace. Walkers were introduced, exercises were performed, and milestones were reached as patients took those first shaky yet determined steps toward healing. Each movement was a testament to their resilience and the compassionate care of our team.
Meanwhile, surgeries continued in full force. Our teams performed 24 surgeries today, including 14 total knees, 4 total hips, and 6 foot & ankle surgeries. Each operation performed today represents a life changed, a burden lifted, and a future renewed.
Today’s Hero: Zimmer Biomet
Every healing story this week is made possible not only by the skilled hands of our team but also by the generous hearts of our partners. Today, we honor Zimmer Biomet as our hero. Their unwavering support and generous donation of state-of-the-art implants make a tangible difference in the lives of our patients. The implants they provide are among the most widely used and advanced devices in the world, offering our patients the best possible chance at long-term mobility and quality of life. Having one of their representatives, Adam, on site this week has been a powerful reminder of the impact that partnerships like these can have. Zimmer Biomet’s commitment to this mission is a gift beyond measure, and we are blessed to work alongside them.
Marco’s Story: A Father’s Fight for His Family
Marco knows the value of hard work. He has spent years in the fields, tending to beans, corn, and livestock to provide for his wife and five children. However, an accident with a horse in 2013 left him with an injury that slowly, painfully, stole his ability to work. At first, he pushed through the pain, believing it would heal. But as the years passed, it only worsened, forcing him to stop working entirely in 2019.
For his family, this was more than a setback. It was a crisis. His wife, determined to keep their children in school and food on the table, did everything she could to make ends meet. She started selling chickens raised on their rooftop. Every evening at 5 p.m., she sets up a small stand to sell fried tortillas with chicken salad, doing whatever it took to sustain their household. But no matter how hard she worked, she couldn’t change the one thing that mattered most: her husband’s pain.
Private medical care was financially impossible. The cost of surgery, roughly $10,000, was an insurmountable sum. They knocked on doors, prayed, and hoped for a miracle. And in 2024, that miracle arrived. They found Faith in Practice.
Today, Marco is one step closer to reclaiming his role as his family’s provider. His surgery was successful, and as he begins his rehabilitation, he carries the hope of walking again and the promise of returning to the fields, providing for his children, and standing strong for his family. His healing is not just his own. It belongs to everyone who depends on him.
Each patient we meet is a reminder that healing extends beyond the individual. It reaches into homes, families, and communities, transforming lives in ways we cannot always see. Marco’s journey is one of faith, perseverance, and the unwavering love of a wife who never stopped searching for a way forward.
Just like Marco, many of our patients know the challenge hidden within Paul’s encouragement he gives us in Romans 12:12:
“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”
We’re humbled and honored to be part of stories like Marco’s, and are grateful to our team, to our supporters, to Zimmer Biomed, and to God for making these transformations possible and for prayers answered.
Tomorrow, we continue. More surgeries, more recoveries, more lives changed. Thank you for following along and for keeping Team HIM and our patients in your prayers.
Best,
Randy
Team Blogger / Photographer
