REHAB
For the first two months after the operation, I did not do anything at all. I just lay in bed; I did not do any training, nothing. I did not worry about physio and did not care about anything. I just wanted to relax, let it heal a bit and then I started with physiotherapy. I was just tired of everything! They told me eleven to thirteen months before I would be better. It was a big disappointment. One physio told me I could do it in less time with special training and treatment six to eight hours a day. So that helped my mind a little. I was happy to relax at first and just let it heal. I was in a wheelchair for a long time and then moved on to crutches. I could not put any weight on the leg at all.
I started physio at the end of November. I went to Tenerife to a very good physiotherapist – Michal Novotny – that also treats all the top tennis players around the world who have been injured. It was very intense. A lot of people recommended this physio. Red Bull helped me with everything and with support financially. It was very expensive to have a physio every day of the week for eight hours!
I was in total three to four months in Tenerife. I was doing a week there with the physio and then a week back at home. One very hard training week and then one week off just to help reduce the swelling and relax everything. I started with pool training. In the pool you have less weight on your legs. I was running in the pool in chest deep water. I eventually started to put a small amount of weight on my knee and getting the movement back into the joint. I was also doing a lot of work in the gym and lots of stretching. After a few months I was allowed to do some easy running along the beach on soft sand. It took a long time to get the flex back into my knee because it was very, very stiff after the operation and the time I had resting while it healed. My knee was basically locked up after two months. It was very painful to free up the joint. I also had a lot of electrotherapy and massage during my rehabilitation. It was tough training and a tough period in my life. It was tough mentally as well; I just had to go through it. In January I was allowed a little bit on a SUP board, just paddling around on flat water. That helped me a lot, just getting back on the water. It felt very nice.