Although it was a low impact fall, I broke my leg in two places. I had to have surgery and I am still recovering. I m walking with a limp and I really don't know when I will skate again. I am worried it will affect my confidence and that I will have to start all over again. I will never visit a temporary ice rink again.
Oh, you poor thing! What a nasty shock!
I haven't broken my leg, per se, but I did have a shock fall (back in 1999) when I managed to put my kneecap out of alignment. It took some fairly major surgery to remove it completely and realign it (almost), which involved severing my thigh muscle above the knee. The nerves were all cut, so after the operation I had absolutely no control over my leg whatsoever and I couldn't move it at all, unless I used my hands or hooked the other foot underneath my ankle. That was a nasty shock, as I hadn't expected that!
I had lots of physio (ouch) and worked really hard to make sure that the expensive operation was as successful as it could possibly be, as I knew there was a 70% chance I could be worse afterwards, especially if I didn't do everything in my power to get better. My right leg isn't - and never will be - stable but unless you're a physiotherapist or catch me walking down stairs or a steep slope (or on a very bad day) then I look like a normal person, not one with a screwed-together dodgy leg! At least, that's what I hope...
To this day, I have no idea what caused the fall. I was going at a fair speed, working on my backwards crossovers (I had been teaching for about 18 months at the time but still training to further my qualifications) and all of a sudden something went badly wrong and I ended up facing the other way with my right knee under my left and my lower leg at a very wrong angle. We suspected my blade hit something on the ice, as I have very small feet and skate on dance blades, so the likelihood of me catching the back of the blade is slim. But we couldn't prove it and these things happen.
Eighteen years later - and 14 years after the surgery - I got back onto the ice. I was absolutely terrified. Because my leg has no muscle memory (courtesy of the severed nerves), it's a case of learning to skate again. One leg remembers what to do, the other one takes a lot more concentration, but I have to concentrate on walking if I've been sitting or standing still or I fall over, so that didn't come as a surprise. The good thing is that I can still skate. No, I'm not the high standard that I was and no, I probably never will be because I'm 20 years older, but skating is skating and it is enormous fun. If I'm honest, I'm still pretty terrified (mostly about the pain that I incur if I fall on the knee with the screws in it) but I'm determined to get back to a decent standard and maybe dance again, once we get a rink where dancing is possible (ours is small and kidney shaped).
My advice to you is to see a physio with a view to getting the right treatment/exercises to strengthen your leg. Make sure that the physio knows that you are a skater and aiming to get back on the ice. Whilst off the ice, take some time to visualise yourself practising things, go through them in your head. It helps - honest!
In my years of skating, I saw some fairly horrendous breakages, including open fractures with bones sticking out, but every one of those injured skaters got back on the ice once they were healed, and were soon skating like they'd never been off. And that includes a chap in his 50s, who was an adult learner rather than someone who'd been skating since childhood. His was a very nasty fracture, too.
I hope you're back on the ice soon!