The accident
My accident happened on 12th March 2006 when I was skiing in Les Gets, France.
It was my first time skiing on snow and it was the first day of my skiing holiday. How's that for bad luck? However, I did manage to get the hang of skiing in the morning and by the afternoon I joined my friends who were all experienced skiers.
I was quickly becoming hooked on the feeling of skiing and found it quite easy, although I did have quite a few low-speed falls.
Then I had one fall that sent a tinge through my left knee. The knee felt fragile, so I decided to go back down the mountain and finish for the day. There was no ski lift to go down, so I had to ski. Ten minutes later, I had an identical fall and felt a sharp pain in my knee.
Both falls were low speed and did not involve major jarring of the knee. 
I believe that my knees were just too weak for skiing and had this injury not occurred on the first day, it would have happened on the second or third. I have since discovered that many skiers use knee braces with metal supports to reduce the strain on the knee.
My second fall happened about 200 yards from a ski lift and with the help of my friends supporting me either side, I hopped down the mountain. Otherwise, I would have need 'the blood wagon' - a tracked vehicle that cruises up and down the mountain carrying injured skiers with alarming frequency!
The infirmary was closed, so Simon drove me back to the chalet and I rested. I could not bend my knee without pain and it only felt comfortable lying down and straightened.
The next morning, I went to the infirmary and within ten minutes Docteur Giles Mounier inspected the injury. He performed a thorough examination and was clearly used to seeing an injury like this. He probably sees them on a daily basis.
The x-ray showed that no bones were broken and from his examination he concluded that I had torn the meniscus in my knee.
He told me to rest the knee for 20 days and see how it improved. He said I should consider a knee arthroscopy - this was the first time I heard of such an operation. At first, I thought an operation was over-the-top and, given time, I expected my injury to heal naturally.
In fact, I would require a knee arthroscopy operation, but first I would wait a long time (far too long) after the accident.
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