"ACL RUPTURE"

I ruptured my ACL and tore the medial ligament skiing in March 2017.

I was seen by the Orthopaedic Consultant in the knee clinic at St Peters.

He made me laugh as he came in, told me who he was and said he was (one of ) the best in the UK... i giggled at the arrogance but I had total confidence in him. He is a really very nice man who knows his onions..

Most people require major hamstring surgery to fix the ACL but the knee was too swollen & he told me that the operation would make it worse. He told me who to go to to get physical therapy to sort it out.

3 months later, much improved but still reasonably hopeless he again made the right call and told me i did not actually need the surgery - the knee would be OK as long as i continued physical therapy as the medial was healing well and was supportive of the knee without an ACL. This is a tough call for a knee surgeon to make but it was the right one - a year later my legs are equal in strength on the watt bikes in the gym; i have just completed Shackletons hike across South Georgia wearing the Ossur super light brace (fantastic) and am very very lucky to be one of the few who can cope well without surgery. My surgeon made EXACTLY the right call on every appointment even when i was on crutches and almost requesting the op.

Trusted him. Would not hesitate to recommend his clinical judgement.

And i'd be reassured that if he said you needed an op, you probably do and vice versa. Looked as if i needed the op but here was a surgeon prepared to make the right call to not operate.

5 Star.

In case of any doubt, I also had a second opinion off the Fortius Clinic where most top sports stars go. Their advice was the same as that of the consultant, almost to the letter. So if you get this consultant on the NHS, consider yourself very lucky indeed):