By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Brandon Shelander, USNS Comfort Public Affairs

BUENAVENTURA, Colombia (NNS) -- Surgeons aboard hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) performed a tendon repair surgery on a boy from Buenaventura on Aug. 25.

Luis Cortez, 17, was born with short tendons that caused him to walk on the balls of his feet until Comfort surgeons performed a tendon-releasing surgery that stretched his Achilles tendons.

“The surgery cut and lengthened his tendons to allow his feet to flatten when he walks,” said Air Force Tech. Sgt. William Jones, assistant non-commissioned officer in charge of the physical therapy division aboard Comfort. “It will be very effective. He should be able to walk and run in a more normal pattern and put his feet down in what is called a heel strike and then foot flat, which is what the feet are supposed to do naturally.”

Cortez’s mother, Maria Mina, first heard of Comfort’s humanitarian work through television and radio broadcasts and took her son to Buenaventura Coliseum so that Comfort’s humanitarian medical teams could examine him. After a pre-operation screening, Cortez and his mother were airlifted to Comfort for the operation.

“I’m so grateful that Comfort was here to operate on my son,” said Mina. “All his life he’s been like this, and I’ve always tried to get some help for him but we don’t have much money and it hasn’t been possible. This treatment has been great and everybody here is so nice.”

For Cortez, who hopes to play soccer one day, the operation gives him the chance to move around without limitations.

“I’m so happy. After this surgery, I just want to get better and start walking. I want to walk forever,” Cortez said.

Colombia is the eighth country Comfort has visited during its four-month humanitarian deployment to Latin America and the Caribbean.

For more news from USNS Comfort, visit www.news.navy.mil/local/tah20/.