After 29 years, Dr. Berger’s patient, Ray Medley soared through his hip replacement recovery and accomplished his ultimate goal of skydiving.

63-year-old Medley experienced significant hip pain before his left hip replacement in March of 2013. Approximately one year prior, after running the Baton Death March Military Marathon, he knew something had to be done.

Medley’s favorite pastimes not only included running, but martial arts, golfing, rock-climbing and skiing. When he visited a local sports medicine physician it was determined a hip replacement would be his best option for relief.

“Upon review of my x-rays I was shown to have no cartilage in my left hip,” said Medley, “The head of the femur looked like the surface of the moon.”

At that point, he proceeded to gather opinions from multiple surgeons, two of which expressed he would never be able to run again.

Then, a business associate of Medley’s wife mentioned Dr. Richard Berger and his minimally invasive approach to joint replacement surgery. This associate had her hip replaced by Dr. Berger, with outstanding results. While explaining the process to Medley’s wife, she stood comfortably in high heels and described her ability to run after surgery, along with the fact that Dr. Berger hadn’t given her restrictions, once healed.

Intrigued by Dr. Berger’s unique approach, Medley soon made an appointment with the Berger practice. When he arrived for his visit with Dr. Berger, he had many questions, the most prevalent being the length of recovery and if he could expect to resume all of his favorite activities.

“I even asked him if I could skydive again and he said I could,” said Medley, “I hadn’t done that in 29 years!”

Once all of his questions were answered, he proceeded to schedule his left hip replacement for March 15, 2013.

The surgery, lasting approximately an hour, was a success. Medley was walking the same day of his surgery and was extremely satisfied with the immediate results:

“My surgical experience was great—the staff was awesome—best the business.”

Within a week of the procedure, Medley was regularly walking outside and he returned to work the following week.

He committed to a physical therapy regiment that took two months to complete, but his hard work and dedication had unquestionably paid off.

Medley stated: “You have to take charge of your rehabilitation and be proactive with your physical therapy. The surgery will replace the joint, but you have to work to get in shape. This is a great medical team, but you need to be a great patient.”

His devotion to return to his favorite activities stayed consistent while he achieved all of his physical goals. He participated in martial arts one month following his surgery, then spent five days in Colorado climbing through Rocky Mountain National Park, a mere three months later.

More impressively, one year after his surgery, he was skydiving again.

“Since that time, I have been constantly challenging the prosthetic hip limits with an occasional hard landing,” said Medley, “I have determined that I will break before it will.”

Medley is now six years out from his surgery and doing better than ever:

“At this time, I can say I rarely feel a difference between my hips and have to think of which one is the prosthetic.”

Though Medley had the help of Dr. Berger with his hip replacement, it’s Medleys strength and perseverance that has taken him the extra mile to an incredible recovery.