Barnacle Bill Magazine January 2016 | Page 99

... of anger and frustration and sheer boredom. We all take our health for granted and suddenly I was in a situation where getting up to go to the kitchen to make a cup of tea wasn’t an option. My lower legs had to be rebuilt, my left ankle was a problem and continues to be an issue, there’s no flexibility in it and the ankle doesn’t bend. I’ve had to be taught how to walk again and I have forgotten how to run – I could run again in the future but I’ll need to be taught how to do so.

The expedition has been about two and a half years in the planning but realistically it’s been five years because it took me at least two to get the body working again while the mind screamed and raged. Expedition wise downhill skiing is a problem, I can ski along the flat but downhill is a problem, I’m unable to use the snowplough to control my speed or to stop (Ed - this is a skiing technique where the skier angles the skis into a ^ shape using the width of the angle to reduce speed by pushing out with the heels on the insteps of the feet, in cross country skiing where the ankle isn’t strapped into a solid boot, it’s one of the few systems you have to control your speed when skiing down a hill) So you have to improvise, adapt and overcome.

Never mind skiing though, during the rehabilitation and operations even the most minor activity becomes a potential nightmare. Before I had my right hip replaced, putting on socks was one of the most challenging parts of my day, I just couldn’t reach and various positons and fingertip sock manipulations were used, it would take me half an hour just to pull on my socks. After the hip replacement I really didn’t get what the fuss was about – the technology in joint replacement is amazing and it’s no longer a problem.

After six months in hospital I sort of conned my way out. I couldn’t stand it any longer, I needed to get out. At the time I was being treated at the Chelsea and Westminster hospital on the New Kings Road in Chelsea, London. I was living in Notting Hill. They would only let me out if I promised to return to the hospital every day for 5 hours of dressing changes, wound cleaning and physio. This was a major expedition in itself. I’d have to walk to the bus stop, a five minute walk for me normally but it took a good twenty minutes on crutches. Then there would be an hour on the bus. What many people don’t understand is that after such an event the body is badly compromised, so much energy is used to repair itself and so tired are you on unused muscles that you have about an hour of energy a day. Once you’ve used it you are so knackered you literally have to stop, rest and sleep. So after this bus journey I would be in bed at the hospital and lie there recuperating whilst the dressings were changed. The return journey was equally challenging as I had to buy food and then prepare it on getting home, all simple tasks to a fit and healthy 31 year old but a major challenge at the time.

RS:

Cold? What do you mean? I’m from Scotland I don’t need to train for the cold! (Laughs) Seriously, Norway has been the destination. We spent some time there over the winter. We’re really focusing on emulating Shackleton and therefore visited the same training area he trained in, finse, in Norway the same hotel his team stayed in and the same routes and land they trained on.

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