Salt Lake Regional Medical Center provides life-changing knee and hip replacement surgeries for 9

SALT LAKE CITY — After six routine knee surgeries to keep him going through the years, Dale Belliston never dreamed of being able to afford a total knee replacement, nor was it ever a thought.

His daughter fell into a campfire as a child and Belliston and his wife, Nancy, will be paying back those medical expenses "probably until the day we die," she said. Not to mention, they are self-employed and pay a hefty monthly premium that earns them a less-than-desirable $13,000 annual deductible.

"We're not rich, we're not poor, we're just self-employed," Nancy Belliston said.

The Far West couple's prayers were answered weeks ago, when Dale, 59, was selected as one of nine patients from a couple dozen eligible applicants to receive a free knee or hip replacement. The $25,000-plus surgeries were each donated by the doctors and staff at Salt Lake Regional Medical Center's Center for Precision Joint Replacement. The hospital will also be providing room and board for each patient.

The nine procedures were done Friday as part of Operation Walk USA 2011, in which about 90 patients at 23 different hospitals in 15 states went under the knife for the potentially life-changing procedure.

"Painful and non-functional knees and hips are a tremendous hindrance to quality of life, and the people we help through Operation Walk have often lived with their disability for decades," said Dr. Aaron Hofmann, center director and orthopedic surgeon. "The new-found freedom and mobility provided by a new knee or hip can literally change someone's outlook on life."

And Mark Smith, 44, knows it will change his.

As an accompanist for British-born LDS singer Alex Boyé, Smith has to travel a lot and the quickly degrading condition of his hips has severely limited him lately. For several years, he's relied on potent medications to help him endure the pain just walking around entails, as arthritis has nearly completely worn away his two hip joints.

"Most people don't really know what it is like to be in my situation," he said, adding that he's gotten used to it since being diagnosed in 2002. Smith has petitioned several organizations over the years to help him pay for medical care, but it has always been out of reach for him.

Similarly for 63-year-old Sandra Jensen, of Tooele, who, up until a few years ago, was moving a mile a minute.