Climbing injuries are worst… They put us out of training for weeks.. force us to take it sow, to rest and recover.
I have been going to the Himalayas since I was kids. You’ll never find me home on holidays or weekends. I’ll be out for adventure events or climbs on weekdays too because that is what I have been doing over the years.
But, this cast forced me to stay at home for over a month now.
My Fall:
I had a fall from top hold at Open Nationals in Bhopal… Although fell on crashpad, my ankle slipped down through the gap in those gymnastic crashmats hitting straight on the floor below. Had a hairline crack on ankle which had to be immobilized for next whole month. This broken ankle broke my heart too, climbing injuries are the worst…
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Recovery for climbing injury:
The doctor said any bone takes 6 weeks to heal! So I had to take support of walker to go anywhere, driving a car or riding a bike was out of question. All I did initially till the swelling lessened was to be at home, read good books and develop my website. Went to the gym occasionally accompanied my by mum.
Resume Work in the Outdoors:
Once the swelling subsided, I was able to stand on one leg without much pain in injured ankle and I could go to teach rock climbing to the cadets at NDA, that too accompanied by Instructor from ProEdge Adventures who would set up ropes and I would take lectures. I had to postpone adventure events and site-visits though.
In a month, I was also able to do some abs and stretching till the ankle in plaster started ache to stop my activity. I got too much time to edit all the past adventure-shoot photos and videos and send those to the climbers who liked them a lot.
I also took a 4 days rock climbing workshop of 25 kids at our climbing all in Pune. Check the pictures here in a couple of days
How I dealth with my climbing injury:
Low Times:
It is very depressing to sit idle. So writing in my journal helped me to cope up with myself, get my priorities right and gain focus. Missing 3 important climbing competitions was a blow for me but I kept my spirit high and always assured myself to return back stronger.
Peer Support:
Injuries force you to be at home, away from usual activities. In those low times, you tend to question your abilities and fate. But friends are always there for you to motivate you to be strong and bring back the laughter. I am thankful for that.
Lessons learnt:
- No matter what happens, being positive helps.
- Hope is the only thing you have when things don’t go according to the plan. Hold on to it.
- You can still workout and be fit.
- Stay connected so that your morals are high and you don’t loose focus.
- Make good use of all the free time you get: do what you missed doing, read, write, watch all that you love to.
Just yesterday my plaster was removed, we took the x-ray and its still going to be 15 more days until I can walk. Hope those 2 weeks fly fast… I had many climbing injuries and now learnt that patience is all that is needed the most.
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