Kneeboard Surfing USA Community Forum

Tom im sorry to hear about your horrific accident and i'm praying for your recovery. Give yourself time to heal properly and you'll be back in the barrel soon enough.
be strong and heal well
tom backer

Op went well. Yes Ab, it was a splinter of about 14cm that was missing, the actual gap was probably nearer 2-3cm. I now have a bit of bone grafted from my arse and a long titanium plate strapping it all together.

Was pretty winded after the op but feeling a bit stronger today. Main challenges now are to control the blood clots that have continued to form in my legs (couldn't take blood thinner during or after the operation) and reduce the swelling that is creeping up from my legs into my body.

I'm starting to 'feel' my muscles again now and can twist and flex my legs a few inches in varying directions. That gives me a lot of drive. Looking forward to starting some serious physio soon.

Worst thing is, I'm going to miss the dry season and all my favourite lefts I'll be back straight back in to rights again if the 8-month recovery time is correct!

Thanks again for all the kind words everyone. I'm enjoying reading through all the old posts on the forum. There really is a goldmine of great stuff here.

Tom

Hey Tom, at least you've got a good goal, getting back in the water. A pretty strong driver that. Don't know how you rode a bike over there, it's bad enough here. I sold my last road bike over 10 years ago, it was getting so scary out there, i just wasn't enjoying it anymore. I survived a few offs without breaking anything but had full body bruising so i know a bit of how your felling at the moment. Good drugs and all the colors of the rainbow coming out under your skin helps pass the time

Tom,

Keep focused on surf..... and getting well. A strong goal, like surfing at a favorite spot will encourage bone growth, and muscle growth.

Glad to hear you are getting it together....

Hope you have a quicker than expected recovery Tom, what a shocker ....keep us updated.
Flextails waiting for you to try out when you're next in Cornwall!

Get well soon Tom!!!

Good to see the site is back up!

Quick report. Thank you again to all those pming me get well messages here and on the dreaded FB.

Back at home now after almost 2 months in hospital. Really great to be with my family and in my own environment. Had a few complications including a flesh eating bacteria working through my skin while in hospital, but that's all behind me now.

Got a great physio working the legs, trying to get them strong for when the time comes that I can start putting weight on them. Doctor wants to see some good calluses on the X-rays before I do that because the fractures were so bad and such a big gap had to be bridged with a bone graft.

I can bend my right knee about 100 degrees at the moment, left knee 90 degrees. The physio is pleased with this, but I keep telling him that if I don't get at least 130 degrees I'm going to keep getting clipped in the barrel. He nods his head in agreement but I don't think he really knows what I'm talking about

Whenever I get on the net it seems like everywhere is getting the best swell of the decade, so I hope you're all getting some!

The easy fix mate .........surf bigger barrels!
Hope you get some soon.

As a doc, docturbo recommends getting well in a hurry, and in the meantime, shape me a board

Glad you are out of Mount Elizabeth, I was there yesterday...

So glad you made it out out of that nightmare Tom. Take your time. Not getting any great days very often here, but it's always good somewhere. Just take your time and heal properly, it will be better in the long run.