Stay strong, Browny
Michael Voss
The Age
June 5, 2005
Twelve weeks after I broke my leg in Perth in 1998, I had a ceremonial burning of my crutches. I threw them in the fireplace at home.
It wasn't a roaring success . . . they were made of aluminium and all they did was blacken up. But it served a purpose. It was a psychological thing. I had finished the crutches phase of my rehabilitation, and I was ready to move on.
That's the biggest thing that will confront Nathan Brown in the coming months. Physically, his leg will be fine but there will be some big psychological hurdles before he returns to football in round one next year.
The extraordinary footage of Browny's accident took me back to that grisly day at Subiaco almost exactly seven years ago - June 7, 1998 - when I broke my leg. The memory is still embedded in my mind, and I can see it happening in my mind frame by frame.
There I was in mid-air, crashing into Shane Parker's hip after jumping to spoil a mark. I can hear the gasp of the crowd when they realised I'd broken something. I thought it was my knee until I looked down and saw the lower half of my leg sticking out at 45 degrees.
In the rooms later, I thought the only thing holding my lower leg on was my sock.
It hurts just to think about it. I was so pleased to see the medicab on the ground for Browny. My experience on an ordinary metal stretcher was one I'd rather forget. The trainer did his best to hold my leg but with every step they took, it was bouncing in and out of place. Absolute agony.
This is just one example of how the medical process has improved and why I am so confident Browny will make a full recovery.
It will be tough at times. There will be a lot of baby steps, sometimes with two steps backwards in between. He will have his bad days and at times will feel like he is getting nowhere.
At times, it is frustrating, but having faith and confidence in your medical team is critical - a support network that gives a professional footballer an advantage over Joe Public.
From what I understand, Browny's break was similar to mine, about midway between the knee and ankle. It does need to be said that it is different from the one that ended the career of Geelong's Jason Snell. He broke it close to the ankle, a bad place for a break.
If it is possible for a good break, Browny did it in the best place.
Like me, Browny has had a rod inserted down his leg, with two screws at either end to act as anchor points. It will be about 34 centimetres long.
Browny may only be in a half-cast plaster for about two weeks. This enables him to remove the cast at times so that he can begin to move his ankle and knee, which is important so that the joints do not "freeze". His toes will get really cold because of the lack of blood flow. At times, I wore three pairs of socks.
After two or three weeks, he'll have the X-rays to check for early signs of bone growth. That's what you want. If it checks out OK, they'll take off the plaster.
That's when he'll start putting light pressure through his leg. Gradually, he will increase it over an eight-week period. More movement and more gradual pressure means more blood flow and stimulates bone growth.
About this time is when the screws are removed.
This is when the rehabilitation really begins. Over time, the bone will heal itself, but there is a lot of strength lost in the calf, thigh and glute muscles. Getting the glute and core stability strong again was my first step in rehab.
I also spent hours in the pool doing hundreds of laps swimming and kicking, and umpteen thousands of lunges and squats, first in the pool, then on land.
Essentially, you are trying to form the foundation for what is going to get you walking and running again. The first time I went for a jog was at about six months and it was awful. It hurt so much. My first little setback.
At times, when I'd feel sorry for myself, my wife Donna would pick me up and get me going again - a strength that I needed to get through it.
In my first year back, I chose to play with the rod still in my leg, a question that will be posed to Browny, I am sure.
The feedback at the time was that taking it out would weaken the area and the bone needed time to regenerate its strength. After all, the bone was now hollow, with some bone marrow taken it out, and it becomes reliant on the strength the rod provides.
For peace of mind, I left it in there. You could say it was like a security blanket for me because it meant I had a titanium rod down the middle of my leg that made it even stronger.
In fact, I was more likely to break the other leg before this one.
I chose to take it out at the end of the '99 season.
Premierships aside, returning from my broken leg to play half-decent footy is one aspect of my career I am most proud of.
It was a challenge, but the things I learnt about myself along the way are irreplaceable. It tested me and, at times, I thought I had found my limits - an experience I will never forget.
It's a challenge I'm sure Browny will "nail".
I'll see you in round one, Browny. Good luck.
http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2005/06/04/1117825104038.html
