Mr Ashwin Unnithan 2018-12-05 Person 5 5 0

Walking alone on the hills above Runnymede, my left foot skidded on some loose material as I was going down a steep hill and shot out from under me. As I sat on the ground, I knew it was not good news. However, I was midway between road access points so made/hobbled my way some kilometre or so home. Three days later, fairly confident that it was something more than the usual torn ligaments, I reported to a walk-in centre. Yes: my ankle and fibula were fractured and there was talk of my going to theatre that afternoon – so I was very relieved to be sent home with just a back slab. And even more relieved when, having been to the trauma clinic three days later, I was sent home with a boot: the CT scan had shown the fracture to be stable. Given the nature of the fracture and my age, conservative treatment was not the obvious way forward but, a week later, Mr Unnithan satisfied himself that, in this instance, it was the appropriate one. At this stage, I switched to seeing him privately, so that I could ensure that he was the consultant with whom I was working. I was fortunate to be able to get physiotherapy treatment promptly and regularly so that, just nine weeks after the original accident, Mr Unnithan was confident that the fracture was completely healed and that he no longer needed to check me out. Had I gone to theatre initially, I would just have been coming out of plaster and beginning rehab! I am deeply in Mr Unnithan’s debt that he had the courage of his convictions to treat me conservatively, so that it is now up to me to ensure that my recovery is as complete as is possible. A very heartfelt “thank you”.