Towards the end of 2012, in the twenty-third year of my life, I was run over by a semi-trailer. Much to my surprise, when the back of the trailer cleared from over my head I was still alive, and instead of a morgue I was rushed off to the area’s major trauma hospital, where I spent around twenty-five days in the Intensive Care Unit and nine months in an orthopaedic ward. I was then transferred to a rehabilitation hospital, where I spent a further eighty days, before finally returning home late in 2013, having not slept in my own bed in over a year.

When individually itemised for legal purposes, my injuries and their resulting ailments reached into the thirties, but what is most relevant is this: My pelvis was basically shattered, my left hip was partially dislocated, and I sustained nerve damage that affects my right leg. This has left me with no control of my right foot or calf, and reduced control of my hamstring, thigh and glute. As a result, there is, and always will be, extensive muscle wastage in these areas. My upper body fared a lot better, but I still sustained around ten rib fractures and a fractured right scapula. I spent the first four months in hospital restricted to lying on my back without being able to raise the bed above 30 degrees. During this time I lost 26kg, all the muscles in my body completely wasted, and I developed severe postural deformities. I do not think it would be possible for a body to become any more decimated than mine was without being left lifeless or completely paralysed.

The initial prognosis from the orthopaedic surgeons was that they could operate on my pelvis and have me back up and walking unaided in twelve months. This proved to be very wishful thinking. Unfortunately, my bladder had been badly ruptured by stray pelvic shards, and the leaking urine meant there was too great a risk of infection for them to do anything more than put my right leg in traction. Control was deferred to a urology specialist, who decided that it was worth trying to salvage my bladder, so beginning a process that became more drawn out than I could have ever imagined at the time. In the end, after failed surgeries and frustratingly long periods of waiting, I decided to cut my losses, and had a procedure late in 2015 to completely bypass my bladder. I now use a urostomy bag instead.

It is only now as I write this in May of 2016 that I have had any corrective orthopaedic surgery done. Only now have the grey skies cleared and I can look to the future without the looming threat of major surgery hanging above my head. My pelvis eventually fused of its own accord (in a very wonky alignment), so all they were able to do for me was a total left hip replacement. I will never completely recover from my injuries, but I remain hopeful that with further rehabilitation work I will at least be able to live a somewhat normal life without my body and its many limitations being overwhelmingly inhibitive.

Whilst waiting for my orthopaedic issues to be resolved I have not lain dormant. Since returning home from hospital late in 2013, I have dedicated myself to regaining as much fitness as is possible within the limitation of my injuries. With my lower half so badly damaged, I have worked with the rough idea of rebuilding myself from the top down, and while it has taken far longer than I initially imagined, I have managed to achieve a lot, and gone far beyond the expectations of my physiotherapists. I have put together a comprehensive outline of what I have accomplished in the last two-and-a-half years which you can view here.

I was in a pretty good position to deal with rehabilitating myself from such severe injuries, as I had been on a serious fitness binge during the year preceding the accident. Initially this was mainly focused on cardio (my best running effort was 15km in 1:10), but I had also been doing bodyweight based strength training for about six months. While this was not long enough to achieve anything of note, it enabled me to see the light and realise the vast potential that the human body naturally has for gaining and expressing strength. With this knowledge of what is possible in the back of my mind, it has always felt as though there is endless room for improvement in my recovery.

If I had not gone through this experience on the back of a fitness bender, then it might not have felt that way. I might have believed my physio two years ago when she told me I would not improve any more until all surgery was complete. I might have believed that I lacked any agency at all in determining the outcome of my recovery. If I did not know she was wrong, I would have been perfectly justified in half-heartedly going to physio twice a week, and spending the rest of my time watching television, feeling sorry for myself, and just doing my best to stay comfortable. The months would have turned into years and I would have got nowhere.

This lack of emphasis on general fitness has been a repeating factor in all my dealings with the healthcare system. There have been so many people involved in my case, who all did their best to help me, but never once did anyone think to lay out in clear terms the vital fact underlying any recovery from extreme injuries: fitness is the key. The specialists were too specialised to worry about that sort of thing, and everyone else was so jaded from dealing with people who have neglected their bodies and want a magic fix, that they have forgotten what humans are capable of.

When asked about the benefits of strength training, my orthopaedic surgeon would only provide a vague “It can only help”, instead of a more realistic answer like: “Yes, absolutely. The only conceivable way you will come close to realising your potential for recovery is to single-mindedly dedicate yourself to achieving the peak fitness that your body will allow. It will take years and be harder than anything you have ever done, but — even if you never reach your desired destination — the end result will be worth the effort.”

My motivation in creating this website is to convey that message so that it might reach anyone else who is unlucky enough to suffer from similar (or lesser) injuries. I think, hypothetically, of someone suffering out there, who has all the desire and motivation that is necessary, but lacks the understanding of their body that is required to take control of their rehabilitation. They might go through the motions without ever realising that it is possible to do more than just meet the expectations of their physios, and therefore come nowhere near reaching their capacity for recovery. I think of this and I feel obligated to document my progress as a testament to what the human body is capable of, and to try and give some guidance in the task of rebuilding yourself from nothing.

To provide this guidance, I aim to put together some videos and tutorials that demonstrate the things that have enabled me to regain strength and mobility, in spite of a dislocated hip and an off-kilter pelvis that pulls my body out of alignment. While some of this material will be quite specific to people with traumatic lower limb injuries, a lot of it will be more general, and also applicable to uninjured people who are looking to become healthier, stronger, and more mobile.

How long it will take to do this I do not know. I have used the downtime after my hip replacement to make a start, and I have the basic outline for a lot of things in my head, but I am expecting most of my energy in the coming months to be taken up by rehabilitation efforts. I will work on it when I can, and going into the future, I will also use this as a place to document my progress as I continue the attempt to brute-force my body back to an adequately functional state. I have travelled far, but there is still a long road ahead, so join me in finding out just how deep the fitness rabbit hole goes as I continue the journey towards recovery.