@Plint
My Weekend: My 4th Ankleversary Hope you all had a good weekend. Last weekend I celebrated my 4th Ankleversary. A what you ask? Well, the anniversary of my ankle of course! **The Day 4 Years Ago** So on that faithful day four years ago I had a horrific climbing accident. I was bouldering (climbing smaller rocks without a rope) and at about 6 meters from the ground I feel my one hand slip, then my other and I am hurtling down at a horrible angle... When I hit the ground I do so with only the side of my foot and I instantly feel everything breaking...
I instantly know this is bad news, but I stay pretty calm on the ride to the hospital. Once I get there everything is too swollen to even get a decent x-ray. They bandage me up, tell me not to move and take a CT scan a few days later, right after Christmas. When the results come in it is all bad news: I have broken my ankle in 6 places, tore all my ligaments off with the bone, have a tear in my achilles tendon and tore off one of my calf muscles. And with that comes the hardest rehabilitation of my life. **The Inability to Move** I instantly become bed and house bound. I stay with my parents for one week, but go slightly mad of all their caring. I decide to go home but this means I need my friends to take care of me. I cannot shop (all hands are needed for crutches) I cannot cook (kitchen is on a different floor) and 500 meters is about my radius of movement before I get too tired or my leg starts to swell.
I decide to make the best of it, pick a bright color of cast and with the help of my amazing friends I get by. I am allowed a walking cast after 3 weeks and 4 weeks after that I see my leg for the first time in 2 months! **It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better** When I am out of the cast I am in for a disappointment. Instead of becoming more mobile I am in a world of pain and I can not really walk, only limp and drag. Soon it turns out that since my foot was not plastered in a 90 degree angle walking is too difficult. I need to go back into the hospital and get it fixed and.. back in the cast. I have a little cry when I am back in my room in the cast I have grown to hate. But this is a story of hope! Because after 5 months in crutches and so much physio I do it! I can walk without a limp! I can move again, and have my life back! In this time I also meet my boyfriend and a happy time start: I walk lots, drive a car (wasn't allowed to drive for 5 months!) and... the mountains are calling! Even though I fell while climbing all I want is to go back into the mountains and be in nature. And 7,5 months after the accident I do it! I make my first summit in Switzerland again!
I decide to celebrate my Ankleversary every year, because despite all the pain, all the trouble and my still quite poorly performing ankle, I can walk! I can experience the world on foot! I love to be in nature! So many things to be thankful for. But most of all, the ankle incident made me realize that I am tougher than I ever thought and that is worth a celebration. So happy Ankleversary to me!
5 comments
My dear friend, what a difficult experience you have had, and how much you have suffered, thank God that your foot was healed. At such times, we value our health more. Take care of yourself...
Thank you for your kind words!
This is a huge thing and I like the fact that the injury didn't stop you from doing what you love. Unlike me, you did great getting back on track. I had a terrible injury that made me quit football and I wish I didn't but the health care system would have given me hope if I lived abroad. I am glad you can walk well again, you are a fighter.
Too bad to hear you had to quit football! Injuries really suck!
I had a series of injuries back to back and I was warned that I could damage the leg if I don't stop.