Laura is a 23-year-old professional dancer who sadly fractured her kneecap during a dance audition earlier in the year. Laura didn’t realise until the following day that her injury was so serious and had initially thought she had just knocked and bruised her knee. Following her attendance to ED at the Trust, an X-ray confirmed a fracture to her patella, a potentially career ending injury for a professional dancer.
The fracture had not displaced and therefore, the orthopaedic team advised that the best option would be let the knee heal naturally, with the support of a knee brace and Physiotherapy. There was also a possibility of surgery if her kneecap didn’t heal. The surgical option would have meant a longer recovery period and would put Laura’s professional dancing career in jeopardy.
Laura started Physiotherapy at Aintree University Hospital with her Physiotherapist, Ray in the first week after having the brace put on her leg. The team wanted to ensure that she got full mobility back and started to get moving immediately.
In January, Laura felt that she was getting to where she wanted to be in her career and then was heartbroken because of this setback. She also didn’t know how long it would take to heal, although doctors had hinted that it would be quite a few months before she would be able to dance as normal. It was reassuring to Laura that Ray understood just how important it was for her to be back dancing professionally.
Ray developed a program that included exercises to maintain Laura’s core and upper body strength. They set goals to work towards incrementally throughout her treatment and this quickly became about recovering fully to perform at Eurovision in May. Laura attended “Lower Limb Gym” in the Physiotherapy department at Aintree University Hospital to maximise her rehabilitation and help regain her strength and endurance. Her improvements in strength were monitored using pull dynamometry: a machine used to test muscle strength which is now available across all LUHFT treatment sites. Laura made a full recovery in time to perform at Eurovision and has recently moved to New York to continue her professional dance career.
Patient, Laura said:
“Ray is incredible at his job, and I feel really lucky that because of his guidance I was able to get back to dancing, I think if I didn’t have that and didn’t start physio in the first week, it would have taken a lot longer to get my strength back again.
LUHFT Physiotherapist, Ray said:
"I've been delighted to play a part in Laura's recovery, and I'm so pleased we managed to get her ready just in time for performing at Eurovision! We're fortunate to now have a very well-equipped gym and muscle strength testing equipment in our Therapies departments. Having access to this was crucial to her recovery and meant we could push her rehabilitation and prepare her for the demands of professional dance. Laura should be very proud of her efforts to recovery, and I wish her well for her move to the USA. I'm not jealous at all!"