Persistence + Perseverance + Perspiration = Walking Again

See my right knee?
It’s the one on the left.

I’m standing on it.

It still aches, particularly after walking on a rocky beach from the Kingscote Jetty to the bird-house at Reeves Points, then up 75° incline – with my amazing 5yo son Jai alongside me, my Canon 7D and new zoom lens. I shot some amazing shots, some of them without Jai in them.

It still aches because about 55 weeks ago it somehow collapsed under me for no easy-to-explain reason. I stood at the kitchen sink of our Adelaide home with 1yo Aidan in my arms, went to turn right – and my knee basically slipped to the left side of my leg, stretching ligaments and hurting so bad that Aidan’s (still sitting in the nook of my left arm) eyes bulged out from the naughty words I screamed. Holy mo…. you get the picture. But I thought of him, and twisted my leg to the left – because I knew I was going to collapse BUT I DIDNT WANT TO FALL ONTO HIM. The knee then twisted around to the right side of my leg. I fell, no I collapsed. Aidan was bawling his eyes out.

But me, despite the fuc… intense pain, I started pulling my pants down. I’ve done some seriously bad injuries to my knees, ankles, elbows, and hips in many stupid stupid accidents over the last 30 years. I knew the parademics were going to cut my pants off. But I liked those denims, I didn’t want to lose them. (I did.) But I really had to know how bad it was.

Fargnl. I screamed for everyone – who were out in the shed doing something. Probably making bee boxes for LSBeez Kangaroo Island Honey. I didn’t care. Jai arrived first. I yelled at him to get mummy. Know what he did first? Got me a towel to put under my leg.  

Then Sarah (my wife) and Lynne (my MIL) arrived. I did not care that my jocks were on show. My right knee was expanding – and only I knew how bad the injury was.

But I was lucky. Sarah knows why and how I break so easily. She rang for an ambulance. I sat on kitchen floor, ice on knee, waiting. 40mins later it arrived.

Ambulance took me to Flinders Hospital.

We ramped behind 4 other amb’s for about 3 hours. 

Then I got a bed, a vomit bag filled with ice chips to hold on my knee … and the doctor arrived around midnight. The accident happened around 4.30pm.

There’s much more to the story. 

But my knee works again. I walk just fine. I was still limping from thr injuries when I first arrived on KI in Feb 2017. I don’t think any of you would know if I didn’t tell you.

Persistence. 

Perseverance. 

Perspiration.

I may not have a paying job right now. But I know what it means to fail and succeed.

Photos from today can wait. My knee aches.

/ Originally written for Facebook. But go so long I decided it needed bigger audience!