Last year, on 26th April, 2016, I broke my leg whilst trekking in the Himalayas. Since breaking it, I’ve had; a metal rod inserted and then taken out my tibia, corrective surgery, a bone infection, many months on and off crutches, learning to walk again, and breaking it a second time but this time in a nightclub just to top off my year.

The operation in Nepal involved a metal rod through my tibia with screws keeping it in place. After a week or so in hospital I flew home and the road to recovery started, supposedly. I was on crutches for over a month and the leg wasn’t healing due to an infection, therefore corrective surgery was required.

The second operation in mid July was a long and complicated one. The metal rod was taken out along with the infected bone otherwise the infection could have spread. During the cleaning of the wound, the doctors found a tree leaf inside my leg, which had been there for almost 2 months, from when I had to originally crawl up to the path with the open wound. The wound was now too big to sew up normally so the doctors performed a muscle graft. They took the gracilis muscle from my left quad and used it to close up the wound on my right calf, connecting the capillaries and arteries and all that jazz. Due to taking away 3cm of infected bone I had a shorter leg. The doctors performed a corticotomy (controlled break of the bone, I think) to allow new bone to be formed. An external Ilizarov fixator was then fitted to help grow this new bone and support my leg. The operation took almost 14 hours but went fairly well.

Due to the muscle graft I had to lie horizontal in hospital for 2 weeks. The weeks after, I could only walk or be stood upright for small amounts of time each day. I spent 4 weeks in hospital, mostly high on painkillers and antibiotics fed into me. The physiotherapist helped me on the road to recovery which involved learning to walk with crutches. The mental aspect of having this cage of wires through and around my leg made it difficult to walk, as well as the trauma of hearing and seeing a bone snap stops you from wanting to walk. The physical aspect of having a leg 3cm shorter than the other also made it rather difficult. Antibiotics and painkillers became reliable friends whilst in hospital and even once I was out of hospital I had to continue taking antibiotics daily for 3 months to get rid of the infection.

I lengthened my leg 1mm a day and after a month my legs were the same length. However the new bone was weak so it was now a wait for it to strengthen and mature. The ilizarov frame was uncomfortable and inconvenient. I could only wear baggy shorts, which resulted in a lot of odd looks when out in public. Sleeping was uncomfortable and using crutches was tiring and draining. Simple tasks such as carrying a plate full of food when on crutches became almost impossible and a walk to the local shop would take 10x as long as usual.

I made the decision to defer a second year from university so I could be fit and healthy enough to study and enjoy university life. I was determined to get better. After 3 months I was off crutches and could walk small distances. I still had the ilizarov cage but I remained positive and focused on dieting well and exercising to help the bone mature quicker.

A few days before Christmas I had the cage removed and a flexible cast put on for 3 weeks. The doctors were happy with the bone growth and healing and after 5 months with the cage surgically attatched to me I was relieved to have it off.

End of January I went for a meal and drink with my close friends and out to the club. A few drinks later I felt my leg break whilst on the dance floor. Spent an hour or so chilling by the side of the dance floor, elevating my leg to reduce blood loss. My friends were amazing support that night, along with the police officers and fellow clubbers that kept the night interesting whilst waiting for the ambulance. Once the ambulance arrived, they cleared the club, dosed me up on morphine and I got stretchered off.

Back in hospital and another metal rod nailed through my knee and into my tibia. A titanium rod and a clean operation meant a decreased risk of another infection. I was back on crutches for a few weeks but came back stronger and was happy to start walking again, with a slight limp.

I’ve been attending physiotherapy sessions for about 7 months now and slowly improving. It’s been a long journey but it is important to focus on small daily improvements, only looking back to see how far I’ve come. Last summer I couldn’t walk and had to defer from uni. This summer I have hopes of being able to run pain free and get back to playing sport and representing my university.

It’s been tough physically, it’s been even tougher mentally and the emotional times haven’t been great. But there are people out there going through much harder situations and everyone is fighting their own battle. I’ve learnt a lot this past year, but the most important lessons I’ve learnt is to think positively. Believe in yourself, believe it will work out and you’ll start to see opportunities rather than obstacles.
Take care,

KP