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 ST. LOUIS (AP) - No way was Rick Jones going to be a couch potato. An athlete and youth coach who works out regularly, Jones dreams of someday hiking the Grand Canyon. A painful, arthritic hip started to slow him down, but at 52, he refused. Then he heard about a new surgical hip procedure that could restore his active lifestyle.
The procedure, using something called the Birmingham hip resurfacing system, won federal approval in May as an alternative to the total hip replacement for suitable candidates.
Last week, Jones, of Belleville, Ill., became the first person in the U.S. to have the system implanted. Nine days after his surgery, he's already walking a quarter-mile assisted by a crutch.
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