When life moves fast, it moves real fast. This is especially true when you break your fibula. I wasn't planning to break my fibula, but a late night mission to Nugget Point had other plans. The astro shoot was over, and I was ready to head back to Dunedin. The perch I found was a few precarious meters from stable ground. When I stepped to make my way over, the foothold wasn't as stable as I would have imagined. My foot slipped, and I feel a few meters. While on the way down, my foot caught a tree root, which forcefully pushed it into inversion. I thought I heard a snapping sound, but was hoping it was a tree branch.
This wasn't the experiencing I was planning on having while visiting Nugget Point, due to the fact that every other mission was a fruitful, and positive one. After assessing the damage, I climbed my way out of the brush I fell into. I then proceeded to hike my way down to the car. At the time, I had hope I hadn't broken my ankle, but I wasn't too confident. The two friends I was with were hesitant to let me drive the 1.5 hours back to Dunedin, but convinced them I was alright. If I hadn't had a hiking boot on, there was little chance I would have been able to drive home with my foot the state that it was in. As soon as I arrived home, Angela was there to greet me on the road. We were both hopeful it wasn't a break, but after she assessed it, we believed it could be worse than a simple sprain. Needless to say, there wasn't much sleep to be had that night.
Fast foward 12 weeks, and I have since had surgery to fixate a spriral fracture of the fibula, a Weber B to be exact. It all happened quite fast, from the initial casting (thought surgery wouldn't be necessary, after intitial doctor visit), to the call from the doctor requesting I head to the hospital immediately for surgery, to the quick hospital stay for the surgery, to the removal of the cast, which was then replaced by a boot. I will say, that my first experience with socialized medicine was a very positive one. Each stage of treatment was handled quite well, and all the care I received was top notch. The United States could stand to learn a great amount from the New Zealand model. Good health care should not be privelege, it should be a right.
At the 4 week mark I went across to the US for a work trip, crutches and boot in tow. While there I made it a priority to perform my rehabiliation (prescribed by the best physio in the world, my wife, Angela;) each and every morning. This has paid true dividends in the form of returning to full function a good bit ahead of schedule. We just returned from a tour of the South Island, and I was able to hike all the trails (including Isthmus Peak) without issue. It was such a liberating feeling after so many weeks of immobility, and limited function.
The scene below is from the trip. It was taken at sunset, while on our way down from the Ben Lomond saddle. The fresh air, and uphill climb, were therapy for my soul.