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10:54 AM Mon 12 Jan 2009 GMT
Chris Nicholson is set to miss the next few legs of the Volvo Ocean Race due a serious anterior cruciate ligament injury sustained on the second leg from Cape Town to Cochin.
The 39 year-old Australian watch captain on PUMA sustained the injury when his knee took the brunt of a crew mate's violent tumble on deck.
'I was hanging on the mainsheet pedestal and one of the guys got washed down the deck and bashed straight into my knee,' he explained.
'It was quite funny until the pain set in. My foot was out here sort of thing so my initial reaction was to push it straight back. The pain was intense. I was choking. The guys wanted to take me down below but I told them just to put me on the sail stack so I could just look at the sky and breathe for five minutes. If I had gone downstairs I would have been ill. So I stayed there for a while then they took my clothes off put me in a bunk and gave me some drugs.'
After about 40 minutes, the pain was manageable. So manageable that he volunteered for his next watch but was told very firmly to stay put.
'It was quite rough and you quickly discover that you can't lie down for long without getting a sore back and leg so after six hours I went back on deck. I had a suspicion that it was an ACL but I couldn't test it properly. After a while there was no pain from the cruciate because it had snapped though the leg was unstable.'
He received daily support from Volvo Ocean Race doctor Tim Spalding, who he says played a crucial part in keeping his spirits up over the ten days it took to get to India.
In Cochin, he had a scan then went straight back to Sydney where doctors said he needed an operation. But Nicko was keen to finish the race so astonishingly, asked what would happen if he carried on, wearing a knee brace.
They advised him not to but he carried on regardless, and set off on the third leg.
I would have regretted being operated on without knowing if I could have carried on. I am reasonably at peace with myself knowing that it would have been unwise to carry on sailing but I had to give it a try and hopefully I have not done too much more damage. If I had carried on, my career could have been under threat.'
Cruciate ligament tears can end careers but Nicholson is contemplating a return in record time even though he admits to be the world's worst patient. His partner Megan and six month old baby are dreading it, he says.
'My job has been a watch leader on the boat but now my job is to recover from the surgery. It could be race over but I see getting back as a challenge in the same way that racing the boat fast is a challenge. I will take it very seriously.
'I would rather have broken both legs than do this because I would have been OK in four to six weeks whereas now I could be out for four to six months.'
Nicholson served as tactician on PUMA for the in port racing on Saturday but is now off the boat, his place taken by British helmsman Rob Greenhalgh.
www.volvooceanrace.org
by Kate Laven
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Sailing
