Hipsters

[Cormanus]

Spaceman, that's fantastic news. I hope the recovery continues fast and you're soon spending lots more time on the bike. Thanks for sharing your story with us.

Many, many years ago, when I was in my final year at school, some clown knocked my off my Suzuki 250 (I don't remember the model, but it was a 2-stroke and went like the clappers). I broke my leg (tibia and fibula) which disagreeably refused to heal. By the end of the year at exam time, I was still hobbling around on crutches. Exams were externally administered and were undertaken in a large centre and I was given dispensation to sit in a smaller room where I could get up and wander around to ease discomfort in my leg should I need to.

My younger brother was sitting the same exams and wandered out the door after an exam only to be hit by a car as he crossed the road. He broke the neck of his femur. It was quickly fixed with a plate and screws, but he had the same problem as you: the bone around the ball joint died and he was quickly in trouble. We were told at the time that it was not uncommon for that to happen with breaks to the femur.

If I hadn't already recorded my age on this forum, I'd pretend that anaesthetic had barely been invented in those day. Actually it had been around a couple of years. But hip replacements certainly had not, so his only choice was to have the thing re-broken and reset in a way that allowed the weight to be taken on a healthy part of the bone. The consequence was a significantly shortened leg which he has endured until this day. It hasn't stopped him leading a very active life. He's been a bit of an inspiration to me as are all of you who charge on with life carrying these injuries.

The postscript to the accident was that I turned up to an exam the morning after my brother's accident and was asked by the invigilator, "Were you the boy who broke his leg in the accident last night?"

"Nah," I said, "That was my brother."

She didn't believe me.