In the spirit of the Six Million Dollar Man, “We can rebuild him, we have the technology”, on the 27 March Darrell embarked on a construction project of his own with the installation of two brand new knees, or in medical terms a Bi-lateral Total Knee Replacement! The knees were bone-on-bone for about the last four years, making it somewhat challenging to get around.
Like most Trigg projects, the operation was a great success with the surgeon and his robot assistant very happy with the outcome. Darrell too is pretty chuffed with the result, and even more so now his legs are straight! According to him, he’s had bandy legs since birth thanks to his dad Bruce, and as the knee joints deteriorated they got even more bowed. Now that they are completely straight he is very proud that he can touch his knees together for the first time in his life and reckons he may even be taller!
Recovery is going well. At the time of the photo, Darrell was in week two of a six-week recovery. The advice to him was to follow instructions and not do too much, so a few stretches and plenty of ice is the order of each day for now. Both Darrell and his surgeon are confidently looking forward to a full recovery and good movement of both knees…in time for the next firefighter stair climb in Melbourne in September 2023. Bring it on!
