I had the misfortune to suffer 2 lisfranc fracture dislocations, one on each foot and both times Mark Davies operated on me with great success. I had to have a fusion the first time because the joints were so badly damaged after a previous injury and because that operation had been so successful for me and let me have 5 years of heavy windsurfing on my injured foot, I also decided, following the advice of Mr Davies, to have a fusion of the cuneiform bones the second time, even though it would have been possible to screw them and then remove the screw to leave the foot less “modified” than the fusion operation.
It has now been over 8 years since the second operation and, although I do have some pain in my mid-feet when I first warm up, I am able to compete at the highest level of professional windsurfing and train and use both my feet as if nothing had ever happened to them.
Unfortunately, a couple of years after the second foot operation, I suffered a maisonneuve fracture of my tibia and fibula and tore the syndesmosis ligaments in between them. I went to see Martin Klinke and he fixed the bottom of the tibia with 2 screws and fixed the gap between the 2 bones with another screw and allowed me to start Physio rehab within 2 weeks of the operation as I had a World Cup event 10 weeks post-op and didn’t want to miss it.
The bones healed perfectly and I was able to jump around on both feet equally well after 9 weeks so he authorized me to try to compete in the contest and I was able to do so just fine (albeit in quite a bit of pain at that point), which meant I was able to continue my season on the PWA world tour and finish the year in a qualifying position ready for the next year.
I will always be grateful to everyone at the London Foot and Ankle clinic and although I hope I don’t have to return there again, if I ever need another surgery, I will certainly choose to do it there and would 100% recommend them to anyone who needs foot or ankle surgery.
