Keith Pope is looking forward to walking into his home village again following a hip replacement at The Horder Centre.
Keith, 71, who lives in Storrington, West Sussex, was having to drive into his village before the operation because of pain in his right hip.
But just a few weeks after his operation, he was already walking nearly a mile and is confident he will manage the 15-minute walk into his village in the New Year.
Keith decided to have his operation privately at The Horder Centre with surgeon Senthil Kumar Velayudham because he felt his hip had worsened but there was no prospect of an imminent operation date on the NHS.