A dad claimed his kneecaps popped into his thighs after he ruptured both tendons while competing in the Strongman final. Dan Jones was competing in a Strongman competition in Southport on September 1 and made it to the final, which involved carrying 80kg (20 metres) to the finish line.
Horrifying footage shows Dan racing ahead just seconds from the finish line, before rupturing both patellar tendons and collapsing with his kneecaps popping into his kneecaps. The 29-year-old senior IT analyst was taken to Leighton Hospital in Crewe, Cheshire, where he was given painkillers and then underwent a grueling five-hour operation to reattach his tendons.
The father of one, who was hospitalized for three weeks and had to learn to walk again, hopes to be released from hospital before his 30th birthday next month. The patellar tendon connects the thigh muscle to the shin bone; It helps straighten the knee for movements such as walking, climbing and descending stairs.
While it is unclear whether 5ft 11in Dan will be able to compete again, he says his injuries have not stopped him from taking part in future Strongman competitions if possible. Dan, from Weaverham in Northwich, Cheshire, said: “I was coming into the last event in second place.
“If I had won this event, I had a chance of winning my category and if I had been second, I would have been second overall out of 16. The guy I was racing against was in first place at the time, so I had to beat him, so I was going as fast as I could.
“This was a very freak accident, we’re still not 100 percent sure how it happened. After slowing down the video with the doctors and surgeons, it looks like the patellar tendon in my right knee suddenly ruptured, causing my leg to fold under me.” .
“Then my left knee bent under me and when I hit the ground, the tendon ruptured. It felt like I was on fire, my kneecaps were in my quads because my tendons were ruptured. The strangest thing I remember was the silence. The whole crowd was cheering. Everybody opened up and then it was deathly silent and I was lying on the ground.” .
“I was very upset, I had a chance to win. We were very close to the end of the competition with 10 meters left. I only had to run three more seconds to finish the race.
“The video showed that when I came down I was slightly ahead of him, so I knew if I had finished the race I would have had a chance to win.”
Dan started training to compete in Strongman in January this year and came first in the First Time category at the Manchester Strongman competition in July. He worked out eight hours a week to train, allowing him to reach 136 pounds on a 4,500-calorie, high-protein, high-carb diet. [21st 4lbs] when he competes.
During his surgery, Dan had internal braces fitted in both legs to help his tendons heal and he attends physio sessions every day. She now documents her recovery journey on TikTok and posts a daily video update from the hospital every day.
Dan said: “During the surgery the doctors said they needed to put my tendons back together and make sure my ligaments below my knee were where they needed to be. They then had to put two stitches in my shin and make an internal support to help my body get the tendon in the best shape possible.” reassemble.
“I was in bed and couldn’t move my legs, worrying about everything. [I was thinking’ ‘Will I be able to walk again? How long will it take?’
“The best guess is potentially the stress of the day [caused the injury] It was just a freak accident as there was no real reason for this to happen as there were no signs. “The doctor said that it is very rare for two patellar tendons to go away at the same time.”
Dan will be discharged from the hospital once he can stand on his own and use the toilet unaided, but has been told he won’t be able to walk unaided until at least February next year.
Dan has hopes of representing England in the Open Strongman competition in five years but following his injuries surgeons have told him this may not be possible. Despite this, Dan remains hopeful that he can recover from his accident and return to the gym and, if possible, return to competition in the future.
Dan said: “The surgeon said this might be the end of all Strongman competitions but it depends. He said it would be very rare for me to be able to compete at the level I was at again but I don’t know until we start to recover.”
“My biggest goal is to be a dad and be able to chase my daughter around and play with her. I should be able to go to the gym and do Strongman stuff.
“I still have a chance to do their Strongman, but maybe not like I was before. I’m not giving up on that. [the dream]. It was scary but I have little goals to achieve like getting up and moving around and now my next goal is to try standing without support. These little goals are the only thing that keeps me going.”