Ex-Canaries boss thanks ‘magicians’
27 April 2005 19:02
Former Canaries' boss Bryan Hamilton
has publicly thanked the Norwich surgeons who saved his foot following a
horrific gardening accident.
The ex-Norwich City manager feared he might never walk again after his left
foot became entangled in the scything blades of his ride-on lawnmower. His
toes were broken and dislocated and tendons and arteries were torn as the
blades sliced through the sole of his foot.
But thanks to the skill of the surgeons at the Norfolk and Norwich University
Hospital, his foot was saved and he is now able to walk unaided.
Mr Hamilton, 58, also a former Ipswich Town player and coach, said: “If I ever
write a book I am going to call it Angels and Magicians. The hospital staff
were like angels and the people who worked on my foot were magicians.
“I will be eternally grateful. I cannot repay them. It makes you very humble.
I have been unbelievably lucky. I was unlucky to a degree with the way the
accident happened, but after that I just count myself as being one of the
luckiest guys in the world because I came into contact with so many
professional and talented people.”
Mr Hamilton, who managed the Canaries for nine months in 2000, had to endure
two operations and months of recuperation after the accident at his home near
Ipswich last September.
He said: “The grass needed a cut. As I went out the rain just started to spit.
I did one run and as I turned to bring the mower in, it started to lock and
slip down the bank to the river. I tried to jump off, but as I jumped my foot
must have slipped underneath the blades.”
The blades ripped through his trainer and deep into the underside of his foot,
forcing him to cry out for help. His wife Collette wrapped towels around his
foot to prevent dirt getting into the wound before dialling 999.
Although originally taken to Ipswich Hospital, he was transferred to the N&N
where specialist plastic and reconstructive surgeons had the best chance of
saving his foot. Mr Hamilton underwent a two-hour operation to reshape,
strengthen and wire it, then two days later, on his wife's birthday, he
returned to theatre for what ended up being an eight-hour operation.
Originally, surgeons had hoped to take an artery and muscle from his right
thigh and graft it on to his left foot. But surgeons discovered it could
not be done as his thigh muscles were too large and they ended up having to
telephone Mrs Hamilton while her husband lay sedated on the operating table.
Mrs Hamilton, who was born in Belfast, was then asked to give permission for
an artery and muscle to be taken from the inside of his left forearm.
This meant surgeons had to use skin from his right thigh to graft on to the
opening they made in his left arm.
He said he owed an enormous debt of gratitude to consultant plastic surgeon
Elaine Sassoon and her team at Norwich, as well
as the doctors, nurses and carers who helped in his recovery.
“They were absolutely fantastic. They are such a good team of surgeons. I just
think they were magical,” he said.
