Josh’s story…

In 2018, Josh sustained multiple injuries after being involved in a high-speed head on collision. Josh sustained many injuries to his lower limbs including soft tissue damage, multiple fractures in both legs which required surgery, fractured ribs, pelvis, multiple spinal fractures which also required surgery and a lower leg nerve injury causing foot drop.

Due to these significant injuries, Josh required treatment in intensive care and several weeks in hospital prior to being discharged home. Josh was non weight bearing for several weeks remaining mostly housebound until 2020.

After the accident Josh had lost his livelihood and became socially isolated. Rarely leaving the house and only doing so with the support of his mum due to lack of confidence in his physical abilities and appearance when walking. Josh went from living a full active lifestyle to having a very sedentary lifestyle affecting his mental health and physical abilities with a major reduction in cardiovascular tolerance on top of his multiple injuries.

The start of Josh’s rehabilitation at MOTIONrehab

After a period of rehabilitation provided by his local NHS team Josh then started weekly physiotherapy sessions with MOTIONrehab in early 2020. His level of ability at this point was walking independently around the house with the use of a rigid ankle foot orthoses inserted into his shoe and strapped around his calf to support his foot drop. Josh lacked confidence to leave the house on his own and rarely saw his friends or socialised as he would prior to his injuries due to confidence.

Treatment sessions at MOTIONrehab included close collaborative working with his MDT in order to achieve Josh’s goals.  As part of his physiotherapy sessions, we worked with his vocational case manager, college tutor and Josh to so support him in pursuing a future career in car restoration by ensuring Josh had the manual handling knowledge, physical ability and specific equipment for his for his injuries to complete the physical tasks involved in his new college program.

Treatment for his drop foot included manual therapy, specific muscle activation exercises and use of a functional electrical stimulation (FES) device. Therapy sessions have also focussed on cardiovascular exercise tolerance and core specific training for recovery following his spinal fractures. Josh has undergone progressive strength training within the gym at MOTIONrehab Hull and given him the knowledge and confidence to be able to continue with this part of his rehabilitation independently.

Josh’s balance and proprioception were significantly reduced due to the amount of injuries in both legs and the amount of time spent non weight bearing, treatment for balance training was kept interesting and dynamic by use of plyometrics, kickboxing, traditional balance work and the use of equipment in the new MOTIONrehab robotics suite using TYMO.

Josh’s current abilities

Josh no longer requires the use of an ankle foot orthoses as the range of movement and power at his ankle has improved drastically. Josh has recently received comments from other health care professionals stating they cannot tell he has sustained these injuries.  This was a big boost in confidence for Josh as at the start of his treatment with MOTIONrehab he was very self-conscious about his appearance when walking.

Josh’s confidence continues to grow; attending therapy session alone, he has moved out of his mums house, he now attends college and has recently started playing football with his friends which was previously a big part of Josh’s social life.  Josh has nearly completed his first year at college and is successfully able to complete the practical elements of his course.

As part of his more recent therapy sessions Josh has progressed to jogging and walking on an incline  on a treadmill. This is a big milestone for Josh as at the start of his rehabilitation process he thought he would always have a foot drop that required support and would not be able to play football with his niece. Josh has been supported by advice from the physiotherapist with being able to complete exercises at home with training diaries and the support of choosing an appropriate bike to help Josh become more active. He now is able to bike 10+ miles regularly.

The dynamic balance training has meant Josh no longer loses balance on an unstable ankle potentially reinjuring and has the ability to shift weight on either leg while completing more dynamic tasks such as his keen goal of playing football.

Even after sustaining serious back injuries Josh has built enough core strength that he no longer suffers from any back pain and does not feel his life is limited from his injuries.

Rehabilitation is still in progress to increase the power in both legs due to the serious injuries to both knees, further work on eversion of his left foot and education for Josh to be able to maintain his levels of ability for the future.