My left knee was shattered. I was wearing a knee guard, but the impact was too much. I couldn’t bend it or move it quickly.
The kneecap, the patella, was shattered into pieces. The ortho team managed to fix it using what remained, tying it together with a wire to hold everything in place.
My thigh was torn open too. That needed its own repairs before anything else could happen.
The external fixator was a nightmare. It was protruding out of my leg. Thigh and shin. So I can’t sleep on sides, and i can’t walk, i was bedridden.
Broken bones typically heal in about eight weeks. These took almost 6 months.
And ortho couldn’t start most of it. My thigh had to heal first. Then we had to wait for the plastic surgeons to complete the skin grafting before ortho could do what was needed next. All of that had to heal before I could even think about walking again.
I’d always thought of ortho as the department that fixes things. Almost everyone breaks something eventually, goes to ortho, and ortho puts it back. The department was always crowded. Back-to-back consultations and reviews. I was put on one side of the wall with the stretcher.
Most of what I watched them do was wait.
The team
Dr. Ratnakar Rao was my orthopaedic surgeon. He has the rare ability to make sure a patient truly understands their own condition. He explains everything in plain language, so you know exactly what is happening and how recovery will unfold. He says all of it with a slight smile that somehow manages to comfort you.
My last surgery was to remove the wire that had been holding my kneecap in place. It had healed, and the wire’s job was done. When I was brought to the operating theatre, he walked in and told the anaesthetist not to give me local anaesthesia (because it would have numbed my legs). He said, “She’s going to walk back home.” That one line gave me everything I needed. I walked out of there with a walker. And now I walk without any support, as much as I can. Full bending of the knee is not possible due to ligament loss.
Dr. Ashwin is someone who really listens. He listens to everything: the patient, the family, even the things that might seem small or silly. He makes sure you feel heard. He gives straight answers and explains every possible outcome so that you are never caught off guard. That clarity is something every patient needs, and he gives it without hesitation. He was genuinely happy to see me stand and walk with a cane. I don’t use one anymore. So thank you, Dr. Ashwin, and the entire ortho team.
Mr. Srikanth, the coordinator, and the nurses in the department know me by name now. They ask how I’m doing every time they see me. The first time I came back for a review I had a walker. The next time, a cane. And then one day I walked in with nothing, and they said wow, you really recovered so fast. I asked them how they were doing, whether it was a busy day again. That was it. That kind of care means more than they probably realise.
Physiotherapy
Mr. Srinivas is an excellent physiotherapist. Experienced, thoughtful, and he finds every possible way to get you moving. He told me my case was a little out of the ordinary, but that he would do everything possible to help me take my first steps. He did exactly that. He would think, analyse, and come up with new routines tailored specifically to what I needed. It was painful. It worked. Thank you.
Mr. Bikash Samal came in later and took the time to understand the case fully. He challenges himself to try different methods, and he makes sure I keep working at it every single day. He is focused on getting me walking without any support, and I can feel that effort. It is a long road ahead. Thank you.
My mom told me later that when she saw me in the ICU after the accident, she quietly feared I might never walk again. Some people in the hospital thought the same. Doctors know exactly what can go wrong, and they have seen cases like mine.
But me? Not once did I think I couldn’t walk again. It was just there, the belief. It never left. So after the external fixator came off, I already knew I would walk. I wasn’t even surprised by how fast it moved, how quickly I went from walker to cane to nothing. I just knew.
I didn’t say it out loud. And for the first few weeks, I have been crying a lot, and I asked my husband for a time machine, so I could go back to before the accident. Just riding my bike. That’s where I was happy. Fierce. Healthy.
With all of that said and done, all the surgery, the therapy, the encouragement, at some point, it comes down to you. People will push you, guide you, and believe in you. Sometimes they may feel you are not doing enough, or expect more than you feel you can give. But only you know what you are capable of. And only you can take that last step.
The rest of it, the doctors, the therapy, the people who kept showing up, I was lucky. But the will to keep going, that one is yours.
It’s alright, you made it!
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