My ankle
In the evening hours of the 23rd of October 2012, I had an accident in the Spanish city of Barcelona that was to have a lasting impact on my future life.
At a bus stop in the Catalan metropolis, I slipped off a curb, my right foot got caught in the street’s rain gutter, and I fell onto my right ankle with my stately body weight of around 110 kilograms. This accident resulted in a triple ankle fracture, accompanied by further injuries to the entire periphery of my foot.
After receiving emergency care in a hospital in the Iberian Mediterranean city, I returned to Germany in the afternoon of the 24th of October. After my return, the Bergmannsheil University Hospital in Bochum continued the care.
After various x-rays, I underwent emergency surgery on the night of the 24th to 25th October, and an external fixator was placed. In another operation, the fixator was realigned on the 26th of October. The severity of the injury required osteosynthesis and thus further hospitalisation. Light morphine units made the pain bearable.
On the 5th of November 2012, the fracture was finally treated by osteosynthesis. The fractures were treated with two titanium implants (plates) and a total of twelve screws. On the 10th of November, I was discharged from the Bergmannsheil University Hospital. For the following weeks, the doctors prescribed absolute bed rest. Instead of morphine I was now given strong painkillers and a VACOped orthotic boot; both of which accompanied me in the next weeks and months.
After weeks of absolute bed rest, I made my first tentative attempts to walk with walking aids in the apartment and on the balcony on the 16th of February 2013. By the 23rd of February 2013, my body weight had reduced to 84.1 kilograms, which was hardly surprising. My food intake during those days had been rather low and health-conscious, and in addition my muscles had shrunk to a minimum. In the days that followed, I ventured out with my walking aids for short distances twice a day.
In March 2013, I approached the big goal with small steps. I wanted to finally be able to walk again without walking aids. On the 8th of March, I began a rehabilitation training with light cycling (spinning bike). After just under five minutes at about 50 watts, I was at the end of my first unit and highly exhausted. Starting from the 11th of March, I completed a daily „cycling unit“; in addition, I trained my muscles at home. The successes came quite quickly! On the 15th of March 2013, I managed to take my first two or three steps without a walking aid. But I still had to support myself slightly. The following day, I already took the first five to eight steps without holding on to anything and repeated the process again in the evening. I slowly increased the intensity of the rehabilitation programme.
On the 2nd of April, the scales showed a weight of 83.1 kilograms. I continued cycling intensively as part of the rehab as well as the walking exercises. On the 14th of April, I ventured out of the house without walking aids for the first time. However, as a precaution – consider it moral support rather – they remained within reach. On the 15th of April, the doctors were very satisfied with the overall result at a follow-up examination at Bergmannsheil. Sporting activities and further rehabilitation exercises would increase the mobility of the ankle. Despite minor setbacks in the second half of April due to the intensive training, the rehab went very well.
The continuous increase in intensity showed its effect: In the peak periods – from the 6th of May onwards – I trained three to four hours a day. In particular, I focused on my walking and „running performance“. However, joint swelling and moderate pain kept creeping in. Nevertheless, the stress tests on the 15th and 16th of May were positive; my fitness had reached a level of about 80 percent. I returned to work on the 20th of May 2013.
At the end of May 2013, I prepared for my first fun runs because I wanted to increase my sporting activities. After the first short fun runs, I completed my first longer run at Lake Möhne on the 25th of June – the „Century Run“ with 15 kilometres. I reached the finish line in 3:16:23 hours. I felt very good.
What was important to me now was to stabilise my performance. On the 14th of July 2013, I rewarded myself for my efforts and participated in the „10k British London Run“ in London. With great motivation, I tackled the upcoming challenges. These included highlights such as the „New York City 10k“ run on Roosevelt Island on the 21st of September and the 10-kilometre run at the „Loch Ness Marathon & Festival of Running“ in Scotland on the 29th of September.
My running performance increased rapidly, and I already completed my first half marathon in Palm Beach, America on the 8th of December 2013. After 21.1 kilometres, I reached the finish line in 2:31:42 hours, just about 14 months after my complicated ankle fracture.
In the time that followed, I took part in various running events around the world. My highlights were certainly participating twice in the „Bermuda Triangle Challenge“, the half marathon in Melbourne, Australia, and the „Great Barrier Reef Half Marathon“ in Port Douglas, Australia. But the half marathon in Toronto and the „Niagara Falls Half Marathon“ in Canada will also always remain in my memory, as well as the running events in Chicago, Dublin, Madrid and participating in the „North London Half Marathon“ twice. In total, I crossed the finish line of a half marathon more than 20 times.
While preparing for two half marathon events in New Zealand, I injured my ankle again at the end of October 2016. In 2017, I tried to make a comeback twice. Unfortunately, both attempts failed, and after thorough examinations, I was diagnosed with stage 4 ankle arthritis, the most severe stage of arthritis, at the beginning of January 2018. Thus, unfortunately my running career ended much too quickly.
By following the rehabilitation scheme and changing my lifestyle, I reduced the degree of pain to a tolerable level in the following years. Nevertheless, I had to forego a great many activities, and a very large part of my quality of life was lost. I came to terms with my situation and was glad that I was at least able to keep my „normal“ life and professional activities. After careful consideration and after consulting other specialists, I rejected the ankle fusion or even an artificial ankle recommended by various orthopaedists since these options could only provide a rudimentary long-term improvement. Thus, I had to live with the consequences of arthritis and was happy about every walk and every pain-free day. At least my life went on in a halfway orderly fashion. Daily gymnastics, my lifestyle, and the right footwear supported me.
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