09/09/2026
When the Therapist Becomes the Patient"
Many of Trevor’s clients will know him as our senior therapist — someone who has built a fantastic following over the years and is very much valued by the people he treats.
So, it’s perhaps a little unusual to see Trevor on the other side of the treatment table.
Trevor recently had an accident which resulted in a ruptured quadriceps tendon and surgery. As a sports therapist, he knows the theory of injury and rehabilitation inside out, but experiencing it himself has given him a very different perspective.
He has kindly agreed to share his experience
For those who know Trevor, you’ll recognise his straightforward approach and probably his dry sense of humour too…….
Part 1
MONDAY 24th August 2026, just a normal day, woke at 6am, got sorted for the Monday morning gym session. Went to the gym as I like to start the day with a positive.
Home, cold shower and getting prepared for a day at work, our routines were a little off as we are having the house rewired (messy!). So, I was going off to my mother’s to cook breakfast and spend time with mum, but this is when things changed!
On my way to the car my prosthetic limb failed me and I ended up on my back with my leg under me (extreme knee flexion), I heard and felt the pop (never good when we hear that as a therapist in clinic) but as me being me (the denial) I think its ok, so I stupidly stood back up, that was a big mistake! I had no way of stopping myself falling and hit the ground hard. I phoned Elaine, my partner, as I did not want to lie in the street. Somehow, I managed to get back into house, still in denial, we phoned 101 and explained what had just happened.
I was asking for an MRI Scan just to see if I had ruptured the quadricep. Anyhow they said I needed an A&E x-ray (I was wondering why but was informed it was to rule out fractures due to the hard fall). I was also doing my own assessment and could not feel a tendon attachment, so we progressed to an ultra-scan.
I had surgery the next day to reattach a total ruptured quadricep muscle.
I decided to be awake during the operation so I could still have a level of control, post-surgery. I thought this feels ok, until the spinal anaesthetic wore off and the next day or two were a little blurry.
By Wednesday night I was moving from bed to chair and thinking I will be out of hospital for the weekend.
But my neck had other plans. On Thursday, my neck went into a spasm (it must have been from the fall). This for me is where the care started to deteriorate, the doctor’s examination was poor, so much so I told him to leave. The physio came and asked me to get into a chair, I explained the situation(which as a therapist myself, I would have been asking to scan to rule out any issues). I could not lift my head off the bedwithout massive spasms occurring. I was given anti-inflammatory gel!
It was from this point I knew I had to be out in order to heal, so with the help of Elaine and friends we ordered a wheelchair access taxi (the problem was it was a bank holiday weekend) so the earliest taxi I could get was Sunday.
To be continued…………
