Stuff Digital Edition

Long-awaited ankle surgery a success

Keiller MacDuff

A woman who spent nine months living with a dislocated ankle is recovering from long-awaited surgery in Christchurch Hospital.

Debbie Cuthbert injured her ankle after falling while she got off the school bus she was driving in September. The then Temuka resident’s injury was originally diagnosed as a sprained ankle, but on Thursday she underwent a surgery which took almost seven hours to repair her dislocated foot.

Cuthbert’s partner Tony Poole said yesterday the surgery to realign her foot to her leg, fuse bones in place, and insert plates had been a success.

‘‘The surgeon said it would be at least a year until she’s on the better side of it,’’ Poole said.

He said he was yet to see Cuthbert, who remained in post-surgical recovery yesterday, but he had spoken to her on the phone.

She told him she was ‘‘stoked’’ when the surgical team had shown her photos of her foot – which she said ‘‘looked like a foot again’’.

The lower leg is now in plaster and Cuthbert faces a long road to full recovery, he said.

‘‘It is what it is, and it’s better than what she has been doing [living with a dislocation].’’

He said his partner was ‘‘not one to complain’’, but he felt she had not been treated well.

‘‘Enough is enough. It’s just wrong how she’s been treated.’’

He said they planned to take the matter further as they did not want anyone else to endure a similar experience.

The surgery marked a turning point in a long battle to get treatment for the injury.

Since the fall, Cuthbert had seen a number of medical professionals, including presenting at Timaru Hospital where she was told she had sprained her ankle, she then endured months of physiotherapy and was even told she would need to have her lower leg amputated.

She also struggled to get the help she required from ACC.

While the corporation accepted her claim for a wage subsidy, it did not initially tell her she was entitled to assistance with occupational therapy or accessibility equipment, leaving her to buy scooters, shower chairs and install ramps at her home at her own cost.

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en-nz

2022-05-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-05-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://fairfaxmedia.pressreader.com/article/281578064286702

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