David, wakeboarder
A complete rupture of his ACL ligament and meniscal damage to his left knee threatened David’s participation in sport. He wanted to return safely to the action.
In May 2018, 25-year-old Pepsi employee David completely ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and damaged the meniscal cartilages (the knee’s shock absorbers) in his left knee during a wakeboarding competition. As a keen footballer and skier in addition to his passion for wakeboarding, David needed to find out what was wrong with his knee. After inconclusive visits to A & E and his own doctor, his mother’s research led him to Mr Paul Trikha, consultant knee surgeon at the Surrey Orthopaedic Clinic.
Mr Trikha explained to David that, in his opinion, the best option was to repair his medial meniscus and a perform an ACL reconstruction. These procedures went smoothly and David began his rehabilitation using a brace and physiotherapy.
Six months on, David has a stable knee and a full range of movement and whilst he is not 100% recovered, he is starting to think about participating in sport again. David advises anyone in a similar position to him to have the surgery, follow the advice of doctors and work hard with rehab. “It’s not a comfortable experience but you have to push yourself at all stages of recovery to give yourself the best chance of a full recovery. Find ways to enjoy your physio. Go on bike rides with good scenery.”
After both A&E and his own doctor were unable to diagnose the issue, David was relieved when Mr Trikha could immediately pinpoint his problem. He says: “As soon as I saw Mr Trikha, he was 99% certain that I’d ruptured my ACL and when the scan came back and confirmed it, I was full of confidence that he knew what he was doing. I was booked in for surgery within that week. I was super-nervous, but everybody was so reassuring. “
Post-surgery, David gives great credit to both Mr Trikha and his physiotherapist, Gill Newey: “If this ever happened to me again, I would be reassured that in the hands of Mr Trikha and my physio Gill Newey, I could make a full and speedy recovery.”
Mr Trikha concludes: “Wakeboarding is a great but precarious sport – as up to 50% of participants damage their ACL at some point, so much so that many of them wear a knee brace when taking part. I’m delighted that David has recovered so well, thanks to his dedication to his rehabilitation and recovery.”
January 2019
