Dear all at PUK,
Just over a week ago, I attended photographic group Christmas party near Bembridge on the Isle of Wight where we were entertained by a troupe of very wobbly belly dancers. Although, I’d had a couple of drinks, I wasn’t at all wobbly myself when I headed off back to the house on foot.
The first part of the journey was along the edge of a small airfield that was quite well lit. As I walked along, I took the opportunity to wind up my hand powered torch in preparation for turning off through a dark wood.
A car came by and I briefly stepped up off the edge of the road onto the verge. But when I stepped down the road was not where my foot expected it to be – I’d found a pothole. As my weight came onto the leg, the ankle immediately flicked over and I fell heavily on my right knee. At first, surprise overcame any pain, but the ankle screamed when I tried to put any weight on it. I took a look with the torch, prodded the bones, and decided the joint was badly sprained but still stable.
I briefly thought about flagging down a passing car, but feeling quite embarrassed about having fallen, I decided to attempt the rest of the journey (probably a bad choice all round).
It was a long slow trek uphill through the wood and I felt my foot swelling in and over the top of my shoe as I limped along. Once I got back to the house, I elevated the foot and applied a cold water bottle. Next day, the bruising started to come out below the bones on each side of the ankle and the foot was badly swollen. Dark bruising percolated out across the whole foot over the following day.
Last night, after a week’s rest, some hydrotherapy (at the swimming pool) and a light compression bandage, I felt well enough to go out to another party with some good friends from a place where I used to work. They kept me out of trouble and I am happy to report no further injuries.
The photos were taken the morning after the injury.
:roll:
Gordon