"A walk in the park floater that went horribly wrong…"
As announced on the familiar hornpipe Instagram last night, Taj Burrow is in a Perth hospital recovering from surgery after blowing out his knee during a family camping holiday.
Taj, who retired from competition two years ago after nineteen years on the carousel (“I’m looking forward to freedom so much!”), and who turned forty exactly one week ago, was photographed in a Perth hospital bed alongside his three-year-old daughter, Ms Arabella Rose.
How’d he bust up his knee?
Taj says it was just a “little walk in the park floater at the Bluff (in WA’s north-west) that went incredibly wrong. Blew my ACL to pieces. Just had surgery.”
The pain, he says, “fucking killed me at the time Like a lightning bolt.”
A picture demonstrating the gloomy scenario.
After ACL surgery you zombie walk on crutches for a few weeks. Maybe two months until it don’t hurt so bad.
Six to nine months before you’ve got normal function.
In the meantime, Taj has his beer biz Honest Ale to work on.
“More biz than drinking, hopefully,” he says.
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There must be a go fund me site for poor Taj – don’t all surfers need help with medical costs?
Drrr thats he reason for the not so subtle brand placement in the story , otherwise what other reason would there be for this article
The surgeon wot fixed me said it’s really one’s muscles holding your knees together and so even after reconstruction, the point is building up muscle mass around the joint, more so than one previously had.
It’s a complicated, long term process. And brutally heart-breaking at times.
What’s the difference between the two knee’s pictures, beside the added word “torn”? I don’t have any clue on anatomy…
Nothing. The way you wreck an anterior cruciate ligament is when sudden pressure causes the joint to slip forward from the tibia. The joint then slips back into place, but without the central support mechanism in place. Despite what my wacky friend Nik Karol says above, straining this ligament is not the usual injury to it, because it’s so covered from so many angles by other ligaments and muscles – if the pressure slips through to the ACL, it’s usually a rupture. It hurts like fuck but the pain recedes as with any injury and the patient can walk around with it, but the sensation of instability is marked and any attempt to move with power through the limb will lead to further damage and possible full dislocation. What John has suffered is more likely a posterior cruciate strain or tear, which is painful but not quite as destabilising and which can heal naturally over a period of four to six weeks. JJF has torn the medial collateral ligament in this knee in the past, I’m sure he is familiar with the process. But if that was an ACL rupture he would not be walkiing around in Bali, he would be at home resting after surgery.
I understand there’s much more difference between Nick Carroll and Nik Karol than between the depiction of an ACL rupture and the depiction of an posterior cruciate strain.
I get your explanations but then, what the point with the picture? Is there any chance to see the result of the joint back in place without the central support mechanism?
Anyway, sounds painful…
I proudly stand by my original statement! You equivacate.
The Niks are at it again.
He started it! I think.
PCL’s usually go with a sudden stress on the upper part of the shin bone, whereby the shin stays still and the thigh slides out on top of it. The classic example is a rugby player sliding in to make a try on the knees.
Dang! You know your knee stuff in & out!
Torn both my acls (in half!), two separate, and stupid, accidents, both times no surf for a year. Wheelie on a moped, 17. Pile driver off a draining wedge into the reef at 37. I got weak knees : ) Actually tear your acl & you will flipping know it. You kind of hear it.
BTW, That was a perfect Woolf analogy for surf, I’m gonna enjoy thinking about that one for a while, bless ya’!
..this a bit better?https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
Yes it is! Thanks
Thank fuck vance and his pack of old farts hogging exmouth and TB and his crowd hogging the bluff doss not leave many scraps for anyone else , nice beer plug though , stop Deano drinking the profits and you might turn a buck or two.
Backhand tail-drop floaters are so fucken dangerous.
Especially if you slip , do the splits , in the flats and then wear the lip on your back ! Ouch my groin hurts .
Yep I did the exact same a few years ago so badly that I tore pieces of bone off my pelvis. So fucken painful.
Not worth the risk after a certain age (45-50) especially when the backhand snap ( at least for naturals ) is this week’s money turn ?
Yeah exactly. Backhand floaters feel so insane when you make em though hey!
That’s right and when you make em it doesn’t hurt a bit !
See that’s what happens when you blow the anterior cruciate ligament. You don’t strain that ligament, you blow the thing and then you have surgery. You don’t walk around contest sites.
Interesting. Do they give you the super cute nugget of a toddler to cuddle before or after the surgery? Australian pain management seems pretty awesome!
Great question for longtom’s Fijian camper* enthusiast.
*not camping
Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong?
Yes,but only if both your parents are from the the US west coast and play jazz?
You actually can sprain and/or stretch an ACL. They don’t all blow. Trust me, I’m not a doctor.
Are you pointing that crooked ol finger at John John?
Of course he is, but he’s wrong!
Does Mr James B write for Moist ?
#rosswilliamsgate
You can definitely do partial tears of the ACL and continue on with normal life. Generally quick swelling that goes down if you haven’t fractured the tibial plateau (generally caused from the femur slamming into the tibia). Looking at the clip that caused the damage, there doesn’t appear to be anything bad enough to cause ACL damage. I would go with grade 1 or 2 meniscus/mcl combo which would be likely if he extended his back foot knee down towards the deck. Like when your back knee touches your snowboard but your still strapped in normally after dropping to flat.
ACL’s are overrated
http://www.smh.com.au/sport…
TB is gunna have the best double chin going around after 9 months on the sidelines
My friend owns a skatepark. Pretty much every deconditioned 40-something wafts in and shatters a femur or disconnects an artery. Ask yourself, would Nick Carroll blow an ACL on a Sunday morning floater? Of course he fucking wouldn’t
Ain’t that the truth qtsg. Most of my buddies are younger than me and don’t work out. And surprise, at 43 they’ve all gained 15 pounds and blow out a knee first turn off the lift or throw out their back duck diving or some similar bullshit. If you want to fling your body around for a long time after 40 you need an hour working that core and strengthening your knees for every hour in the line up.
Best wishes for Taj!
Great guy and surfer, one of the bests!
Any west ozzies know what one those camper trailers is worth to rent for a fortnight?
Yeah that’s exactly what I was eyeing up
This has become a camp site when old surfers are looking at the truck and not appreciating the esthetics of female beauty wrapped up in denim. Will you call the tour Beach Grit’s” Queens of the Desert “.
We gonna do a Beachgrit roadtrip, LT?
The BG commentariat at the Bluff, couple o drinks, good run of surf, what could go wrong?
Good campfires for sure.
I was just thinking… “fuck these stab comments are shit” then I realised I was on beach grit
The six to nine months of post-op rehab sounds brutal. Sounds like an IPA to be Honest. Bitter and full of hops.
Clever clever!
Bravo Otto, I hope you get some sort of royalties when it releases after Taj becomes inspired.
I hope he does get inspired. Without worry of royalties owed.
Not even 40. Played tennis yesterday for 45 minutes and could hardly paddle out this arvo. Stupid fucking time and aging.
nah, age isn’t the problem. tennis is stupid, dude. don’t do that stuff.
That could be read like a list of good things. There’s four of them and one pacemaker.
Choose!Think Japanese Minimalism.less is more ?The new glass ceiling is 45 .No excuses .
Bummer (not that I’ve seen his surfing since he quit)… Just tuned into the Ulu Drug Aware Protractor webcast in time to hear Ronnie diarrhea out “had a bit of a brain explosion. Owen Wright is through…” Wow. Poor form, Ron.
Heard that too. Missed the preamble. What was he referring to?
he made an error. We all make mistakes. Maybe he had one too many arak cocktails last night.
Oh I think Ron is long beyond cheap cocktails.
Never underestimate the power of an arak cocktail on a Newy bushman.
It’s like a fucking shine box to Tommy in Goodfellas.
Too many nose beers?