So the time has come, I’m writing my first blog. I’m not exactly sure where this will go, so I’m going to start writing, stop when I’ve had enough, and hopefully what I’ve produced at the end of it all isn’t a huge pile of verbal diarrhea.
So, where do I start. I guess a bit of background about myself wouldn’t go amiss. I’m 23 years old, and am working in a sports-focused private practice on the Kapiti Coast in New Zealand. It’s been a bit of a windy road getting here, but if you’re still sitting at your computer reading this, I guess we’ll have a look at the shortened version.
I was born in Reading, England. My parents are both teachers and I have one brother who is two years younger than I am. On my 5th birthday, we moved to a small town called Attleborough in Norfolk and it was here that I first discovered I was pretty competitive when it came to sports. I played football then, as pretty much every kid does in the UK.
In 2004, my dad had a midlife crisis, and instead of buying a motorbike or getting some tattoos like most middle-aged men do, he decided to move our tight knit little family to New Zealand. On the other side of the bloody world.
It was here that I would grow up, throwing in the spherical ball for one a little more oval and not looking back. Through high school, I played almost every sport I could, but rugby was the big one. At the time of finishing high school, I had only had a couple of injuries; a broken hand and sprained calf. I played through a lot of minutes with niggles. Going to the physio back then wasn’t overly common practice, and in a small town the good old Kiwi “she’ll be right” attitude meant you just got on with things unless you were seriously hurt. The small town life wasn’t for me, so off to the university of Otago I went, full of hope and expectation.
It was during my time here that I really learned first hand what it means and feels like to be properly injured.
Things started off not too bad. I played colts for a club and had a pretty good first season; minor rolled ankle here, sore shoulder there, nothing that kept me off the footy paddock for more than 5 days. That is, until I played a game of “social” rugby just after the start of my second semester against a rival hall and rolled my ankle so that I couldn’t walk on it afterwards. X-rays showed that I had broken it, but everything pretty much lined up and I was in a cast for 4 weeks and a moonboot for another 4 after that.
This was the start of a cascade of injuries that would plague my sporting life at uni; multiple rolled ankles, a groin tendinopathy, a torn quad muscle, a broken jaw, a subluxed shoulder and a torn MCL. I spent that much time on a physio bed (we luckily had free sessions through our rugby club) that I think that’s what made me decide to become a physio myself. Through all these injuries, I would keep coming back. I was young. I was determined. And I still somehow thought my body was indestructible.
Fast forward to 2 weeks in to my last placement, at the end of my fourth year of university, 4 weeks away from handing in my last portfolio and expecting to graduate in December of that year. I was playing in the semi-final of an invitational sevens tournament, and I attempted a last ditch tackle to stop a player from scoring. I came down in a heap, landing directly on top of the opposing players heels, and just felt deep, deep extreme pain. I had, without knowing exactly what I’d done, ruptured my pancreas, requiring emergency surgery that night, waking up in hospital with over 30 staples holding my abdomen together, a couple of drains and a catheter. What the hell just happened.
I did as was told, spent a few weeks at home, and with a lot of support, managed to complete my studies by the end of 2016. I passed with distinction, and now I’m here.
As you can see, I do know what it feels like to be injured. I know how difficult it is to mentally keep pushing yourself back. It’s why I wanted to start this, as I know I can’t be the only person like me.
Through this blog, I hope to cover a range of topics:
- Published research
- Go-to exercises
- Personal experiences I have while working as a physio
- Updates on how my training is going
- What I’m working on to get back to my own sport.
Peace out,
Teej