Woman home after breaking both legs at flower show

A woman who broke both of her legs after falling at a flower show was among the first patients discharged after being treated at the National Rehabilitation Centre (NRC).

Liz Mant, who suffers from weakened bones due to treatment for a bowel disease, collapsed in the heat at Rutland Flower Show in August.

She spent four weeks undergoing operations at the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham and was transferred to the rehabilitation centre on 9 September, a week after it opened.

Mant, from Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire, said: "I went from being bed-bound on Wednesday morning to walking up and down the stairs by Friday."

Mant broke her left leg in two places and her right in one place.

She said the extent of her injuries was a result of weakened bones caused by steroids to treat her Crohn's disease.

As a result of her injuries, Mant was unable to bear weight on either leg, and she was transferred to the 70-bed NRC at Stanford Hall, in Nottinghamshire.

Her therapy programme began the day she was admitted.

"By Wednesday afternoon they had me out of bed," she said. "They got me the right equipment, so they got me a frame which meant I could go and use the bathroom, and a wheelchair so I could wheel myself down to the dining room.

"I knew then that I was going to be able to get home, and to be able to get home safely and be able to move about. And now I am, in just a week.

"I said to the physio team, 'you throw it at me, I'll do it, whatever it takes', and between them they have nailed it and every day I am working on stuff which is personal for me when I get home.

"It means that I have confidence in going home and not doing myself any damage."

She added she was looking forward to getting back to normality after being able to return home.

The NRC was created to help people with life-changing illnesses or injuries achieve the best recovery possible, and has been 15 years in the making.

Physiotherapist Ellie Brown, who was part of the team that provided Mant's rehabilitation, said: "Her attitude towards her rehab has been really refreshing to have someone so engaged in their own rehab journey to carry it forward.

"She's also been very open to all the opportunities that we've presented to her, which is 80% of the battle.

"Being at the NRC allows us to use multiple different spaces and incorporate the rehab into daily activity, such as going to get some fresh air and doing some walking outside, or walking down to the dining room for meals, rather than having to practise repetitions in a gym space, and that seems to be working well for patients such as Liz."

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