John’s leg
My name is John Watson and I am 50 years old, on the 11 August 1988 (11pm) at the age of 26, I was
knocked off my motor bike and my right leg sustained a vast amount of damage. This consisted of a
broken femur, fibula and there was a compound fracture tibia. I was taken to Colchester District General
Hospital (CDGH).
At (CDGH) I had a nail put into my femur (still there today), and a Hoffman external fixator and a lap
thickness skin graft - what they did for me at (CDGH) was great and it lasted for 23 years and during that
time I was able to undertake mountaineering, rock climbing, martial arts, mountain biking etc. However,
while climbing one day I managed to damage the skin graft and got yet another infection, this was about
5/6 infection in as many years and I was finally fed-up with it, so something had to be done.
My doctor at Basingstoke General Hospital, made an appointment for me to see Mr. McNally. It was
explained that at the Nuffield Orthopedic Centre (NOC), the leg would be straightened by a fixator and
the skin graft would be fixed by a flap. My appointment was for 18 May 2011 - and so started the
journey to a new leg.
X-ray before treatment
Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre
On 18 May 2011 (7am) I started in ward A, and from there went into theatre (see picture) which lasted
14 hours, the antiseptic was an epidural, because of this I was awake throughout the operation.
The procedure that was undertaken on me, was the one explained to me - I had a gracillis free flap and
an Ilizarov external fixator (that could be adjusted) on my lower right leg (see photo‘s).
After the operation and recovery room, I was taken to Ward F. where I stayed for about 3 days, before
being transferred to BIU Ward. I spent about 2 weeks on BIU and during that time I took part in a drugs
trial and learnt to walk again. This was a long slow process; first, you start with dropping your leg over
the edge of the bed for 30 seconds and working your way-up to standing - and eventually walking with
the fixator and crutches.
Just before leaving the NOC, I was shown how to adjust the bolts on the foot plate (ankle) and side of
the frame (see photo). The reason for having the adjustable bolts on my frame was to lengthen my
ankle to enable me to put my foot flat on the floor and to straighten my tibia, allowing me to stand
straight again.
I use to come back on a regular basis to the NOC, to attend clinic and on one of those clinic days, it was
noticed the frame was twisting around, so it was decided to put two larger pins in (see photo). I went
back to the NOC to have 2 more pins put in as a day case.
On the 28 September I had my “foot plate” taken off, the fixator, this was as day surgery - the whole
thing took an hour - this was a real step forward. This meant that I could put a shoe on and walk without
crutches - just like everyone else, only with a large piercing in my leg.
On the 23 December 2011, the fixator was taken out - once again this a day surgery and only lasted
about 2 hours and from there I went to the plaster room. The plaster that I was given, was not a full
plaster just a covering to protect the flap and to help support the leg - I was able to wear jeans and pair
of shoes and able to walk just like everyone else.
I went back to work on the16 January 2012 - I am a security officer and do not have a car - so this
means, that I walk about 2 miles to work and when I get there I stand around for a number of hours and
depending upon the job of the day I could walk about 3-5 miles before walking 2 miles home.
X-ray before treatment
X-ray after treatment
1
1
Johns story rtf