Lessons learned

  1. Skiing is dangerous! Do plenty of preparation to strengthen your legs and particularly your knees for 3 months before leaving. I was a fit, healthy 30 year old. I regularly ran and cycled yet I was still badly injured through just 6 hours of skiing. (My knees may have been more prone to injury as I had some problems with them during childhood.)
  2. Listen to your body. I knew after a few days that this was no ordinary injury. I should have arranged an operation while on holiday in France. Waiting could only have made the injury worse, not better.
  3. Do lots of physiotherapy. If you injure yourself, you must do lots of physiotherapy (i.e. exercises) in order to keep your muscle strength. I suffered from severe muscle atrophy because nobody told me to exercise my leg. I thought that by resting my leg, it had the best chance to repair. But in fact, I should have been doing a whole range of exercises. Visit a physiotherapist as soon as possible after your accident.
  4. Understand your insurance policy. I was fortunate that my insurance company paid for my operation. They could have backed out of it. In particular, you may no longer be covered once you return home, so consider having treatment while you are away.
  5. Consider treatment abroad. Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore are all working hard to develop their 'medical tourism' industries. You can see a consultant as soon as tomorrow and have an operation the next day. No more NHS waiting lists.
  6. Travel with a credit card. Unfortunately, I had to leave the UK without my credit card. This later caused me a lot of trouble when trying to pay for my operation and booking flights.