"For it is in giving that we receive"
-St Francis of Assisi.

The above statement sums up the feelings I experienced after I returned from Hanoi, Vietnam after assisting the American Operation Walk Team; “Operation Walk Chicago”. During that brief mission in 2016 we provided almost 60 joint replacements to the Vietnamese people in Military Hospital 108. They had no English but the gratitude in the face of the patients and their families is something I will carry with me for the rest of my life. While it is not life-saving surgery we perform, it is most certainly life-changing for the patients. Getting either their hip joint or knee joint replaced means that they can walk again, pain free, and for some it means that they can finally work again. In April 2017, we organised the first ever Operation Walk Ireland mission to continue the work started in Hanoi by the Operation Walk Chicago mission. On this mission I recruited all volunteers and liaised with Vietnamese representatives to ensure all travel, visas, accommodation, etc were in place for a smooth mission.

In March 2018, Operation Walk Ireland will be travelling to Hospital 108 again with an international team; over 60 personal gathered from Ireland. Again, I have taken on the role of Recruiting these personnel and organising the travel, visas, accommodation, etc. However, I have decided to join the 2018 Mission. I will be Lead Floor Nurse (alongside Niamh Laffey Flynn) for the 2018 Mission. We aim to perform 60 joint replacement operations on the Mission and I look forward to sharing my story on our Facebook page- Operation Walk Ireland and my own personal FB page. To guarantee my participation on the mission, I am looking for help to hit my fundraising target of €1,500. I would be very grateful if you could donate towards this- every little helps!!