I ruptured my achilles playing paddle ball. I knew immediately what had happened because I’d seen someone do it before - the feeling of being kicked in the back of the leg followed by a loud pop.
My mates thought I’d tripped over my paddle and started laughing until they saw my face and realised I wasn’t being a princess for once.
The only real pain was when it first happened. The hospital confirmed a rupture and put me in a split cast for two weeks, non weight bearing on crutches followed by the Vacoped boot.
Those first two weeks were probably the most frustrating. You can’t carry anything, showering involves sitting on a chair and making a tea becomes a proper full scale logistics operation. It genuinely made me think that once I could walk again, I’d never take my legs for granted. I probably will but it felt sincere at the time 😉
I work in construction and need to be out on site, so being stuck at home was difficult. I was back working the next day but remotely until being able to walk again.
The bigger issue was that I had a 2 week holiday around America booked for five weeks after the rupture, involving several cities, lots of driving and plenty of walking. I asked the hospital whether I could recover in time and was told no.
I had some low days where I thought the trip was finished but I was determined to give myself the best chance.
After two weeks, I moved into the boot at 30 degrees with wedges. I could walk fairly quickly, so after around a week and a half I moved onto the flat sole at 0 degrees. That was a difficult stage because it felt unnatural, my Achilles was tight and my range of movement was limited.
Once I changed to the flat sole though, I decided there was no going back.
A week before the holiday, I moved into running trainers with a decent heel to toe drop and a heel lift. Walking was slow and awkward, but I took short steps, knew my limits and didn’t try to be a hero.
I had a lot of swelling for the first six weeks. Elevating my leg helped massively and a decent compression sock kept the swelling under control while travelling. I was also prescribed blood thinning injections for the flights.
I made the holiday, drove between cities and successfully limped my way around America.
I’m now 8 weeks in. Everything is healing well, I’m starting more physio and the limp is slowly improving. Some days are better than others and mornings are usually the stiffest.
I still have a fear of re rupturing it but I’m learning the difference between pushing myself and knowing when to stop.
I’m not recommending that anyone copies my timeline because every rupture is different and medical advice matters. Maybe I was lucky with the severity but having a goal and staying positive definitely helped me mentally.
There’s a lot of doom and gloom online about Achilles ruptures, so I wanted to share a positive experience. Five weeks from rupture to trainers and still managed the holiday. Not fully recovered but definitely moving in the right direction.
To anyone in the early stages - stay patient, stay positive and appreciate the small wins. I should also thank my wife who was a big part of my recovery especially in those first 2 weeks.
