Unable to support his family, his wife and four children left him. He went to live with a group of Indians in the caves of Mexico. Rotary International React program found Gerardo Jaquez and brought him to the Texas Orthopedic Hospital for a special surgery to lengthen his leg. So the challenge is to try and lengthen it back to the normal length to match the other side so he can walk normally. The surgery called the Ilizarov attaches a device to his bone, which are cut, then it is slowly pulled apart.
New bone is formed in the gap that is formed.
It happens very slowly. This is kind of like growing a tree if you will. The bone is pulled part a millimeter a day which is a very small amount. The device, which is adjected daily, will make Mr. Jaquez leg grow five and half inches in 115 days. Mr. Geraldo will recuperate here at the downtown YMCA and hopes to return to Mexico to work with machines.