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Arkansas Doctors To Perform 26 Free Surgeries

On Dec. 7, a group of surgeons will perform a marathon day of surgery at St. Vincent Infirmary Medical Center, replacing hips and knees for more than two dozen patients who have no insurance and can't afford the procedures.

Everything and everyone involved in the process - from the surgeons and nurses to the artificial joints - comes free of cost to the patients, many of whom have been suffering from debilitating pain for decades.

The surgeries are made possible by Operation Walk USA. Medical professionals volunteer their time, hospitals offer up operating space and manufacturers donate the equipment.

Fifty-year-old Kent Matthews of Smithville will have a total hip replacement. He has suffered serious pain since injuring his hip in a head-on car crash in 1990.

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