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The footy trials were on again yesterday (not for my 6yo this week, but my 15yo son instead), so even though the game was late in the day and the light was very poor, I took along my D70 and trusty 80-200mm f2.8. You never know when a good shot will pop up.

This photo although very poor (out of focus, 1/160s at ISO800), it shows a significant moment, the tackled player tearing a ligament in his knee:



A 100% crop of the same photo. Unfortunately it is way overshapened to show definition, but I wasn't working off a really good base:



Unfortunately the tackled player is my son Brad. As you can imagine he was in severe pain. The game was stopped and an ambulance was called. He was taken to the local public hospital (which I won't name because it is not their fault the system is a disgrace).

We arrived at 5.35pm were upon he was dumped in the emergency waiting room by the hospital staff with only 2 panadols for pain relief. We finally got out of the joint at 11.39pm and in all that time the only extra pain relief he got was 1 nurofen tablet at 11pm and that was only because I was about to do some e x t r e m e damage!!! The doctor had to ask a nurse how to support wrap the leg as he had no idea and when I asked him if a NSAID like Voltaren was a good idea, he answered "Yeah, I suppose so"

Brad is still damm sore today but resting. I'll be taking him to a proper doctor tomorrow for an "educated" diagnosis.

Ouch! Hope he mends up OK, he must be sore...

Ouch! Hope, he's feeling better after some rest.

Hi John,

First of all, as this is the C&C section, very average image. I think the major problem is the image is too blurry, but I think it's caused by camera movement rather than poor focus. Also the main subject is hidden behind an opposition player.

C&C out the road, I feel your son's pain having torn both the prosterior and anterior cruciate ligaments and it's not a nice feeling (is it the cruciate ligament(s) your son has torn?). I've also spent countless hours at the same hospital for myself, my wife and my kids as we've encountered various mishaps. The quality of medical attention varies considerably. We've had some great doctors treating the problem at hand, but we've also had some poor experiences like yours. One thing that always remains a constant is the amount of time you wait for attention (unless you've got an infant with you). Next time, try popping to the private hospital around the corner. The quality of medical attention is just as variable, but the waiting time is a considerable improvement.

ABG wrote:Hi John,

First of all, as this is the C&C section, very average image. I think the major problem is the image is too blurry, but I think it's caused by camera movement rather than poor focus.

Yeah I know it's a poor image, I even mentioned that in the initial post, but it's the content not the quality that hopefully makes it interesting. If it was an NRL players knee going pop, the papers would have paid good money for it regardless of quality.

Also, it's not St George Hospital I'm talking about, they were playing a team from another area of Sydney.

Also the main subject is hidden behind an opposition player.

Maybe I should take a leaf out of energypolice's hymm book and reshoot.

Hi John.

I feel the pain your son must be going through. I am just getting over ligament damage in my ankle from rolling it playing basketball. The hardest part though is wanting to get back out and play but knowing that your body just isn't ready yet.

All the best for a speedy recovery.

Owen.

Sorry to hear about your son's leg mate - no good. Better his leg than his head/eye/ears etc....

I bet he was in agony - sounds like he's been very brave indeed.

Yes - you are right -parts of the NSW Health System is a disgrace.

johndec wrote: Yeah I know it's a poor image, I even mentioned that in the initial post, but it's the content not the quality that hopefully makes it interesting. If it was an NRL players knee going pop, the papers would have paid good money for it regardless of quality.

Yeah, well aware of that John. I just thought that as it was posted in the Reviews and Critiques section that I should go through the formalities. And yep, you're right once again, it could've made you money if it was an NRL player....

johndec wrote:Also, it's not St George Hospital I'm talking about, they were playing a team from another area of Sydney

Doh! There I go jumping to (il)logical conclusions again...

hope he is doign better, any word when he will be able to play again?
~William

Ouch! Sorry to hear that, John. Definitely hope he is feeling better soon, and that it wasn't too serious.

I reckon this is one of those shots that is compelling DESPITE the obvious technical flaws. You're right, if this was the only available shot of an incident, the papers would still pay big bucks for it. I have seen MANY blurry, shaky, pixellated and out of focus photos on the front page

John, hope you are able to get good treatment for your son, looks nasty

I know what it's like John, even up here in regional NSW. I went to the local hospital over Christmas/New Year for the 4th time in 3 days, with accute pneumonia. (It's impossible to find a doctor in Coffs during that time.)

The hospital wards, brand new, were empty, because much of the nursing staff were away on holidays. My guess is that it was going to cost too much to have them on penalty rates over Christmas break.

I waited on a bed in the emergency dept for over 24 hours for a ward bed. The head nurse wanted to send me home after 24 hrs (again), thankfully my little wife is a tough nut who said that I would be dead if they sent me away again and stood her ground. They found me a bed.

Thankfully I lived to tell the tale!

Hope your son recovers quickly!

Thank you everyone for your kind words and support, we really appreciate it. After letting him rest yesterday to allow the worst of the pain to go away (he's still immobile and aching pretty badly), I took him to see our family doctor today who gave him a thorough, PROFESSIONAL examination. He's of the opinion that he has almost certainly done some compression damage to the cartilage of the inside of the knee and probably torn the the anterior cruciate ligament.

He's booked in for X-rays tomorrow and we pulled a few strings and managed to get him an appointment with an orthopedic specialist on Wednesday morning. We are hoping that the ACL damage is minimal otherwise he will need surgery.

Fingers crossed that it won't come to that, but I'll let you all know.

Ugly days John if surgery is needed, not much fun for a teenager being immobile for a while, hope it all goes well

Hi guys, an update if anyone is interested. Just got back from the specialist and he has torn both his medial and cruciate ligaments. He needs a knee reconstruction and is out for the season..

johndec wrote:Hi guys, an update if anyone is interested. Just got back from the specialist and he has torn both his anterior and cruciate ligaments. He needs a knee reconstruction and is out for the season..

sorry to hear about this... knee reconstruction at his age...

cheers

John, sorry to hear that, not what a young guy needs

I hope Brad makes a quick recovery. The young always do. A few years back, my husband had a badly lacerated head (chasing our cat under the neighbour's house - long story). We drove him to Mona Vale Hospital and he got instant attention in casualty. The staff could not do enough for him. And this is the hospital that the State Government wants to close to sell this very expensive piece of real estate (ocean views) to developers.

Cheers
Sheila

John (and Joanne)

Really sorry to hear about Brad's misfortune. Hope he recovers quickly.

Lynn