When I broke my back I wanted to prove the doctors wrong
Maureen Prince, 79, was born in the UK and moved to Melbourne in 1966 with four young children. She is most grateful for her family.
Earlier this year, in my 79th year, I decided that I would endeavour to get fitter. As my son and daughter-in-law (who live close by) have become expert cyclists, I realised how fit they have become over the years, but most of all how they enjoy the experience and the accompanying fitness it gives them.
I used to ride a bike many years earlier and thought that if I could still have sufficient balance and confidence, then I would endeavour to try and ride a bike. So, after practicing on a friend's bike I decided to go and buy my own and off I'd go.
After only managing to ride about one kilometre each time at the beginning, I finally managed to get up to 10kms per ride. I was starting to feel fit and was thoroughly enjoy my time out in the fresh air and the sunshine.
Then the inevitable happened... I was actually trying to get off my bike to press a pedestrian crossing button, when I overbalanced and landed on my back and suffered an L3 burst fracture in my back.
After seven weeks of wearing a brace my fracture fused together and despite the fact that I no longer need to wear the brace, I am still in constant pain. My doctors have said that this will continue for a very long time and I should do physiotherapy regularly and do my best to try and get back to, as they put it, a degree of agility but, at my age, I should not expect too much.
Well, if there is one thing that annoys me more than anything else in the world, it is when the medical profession tells me, “It can't be done”. I had overcome breast cancer in 2005 and the way I see it, this is only a “break” and, despite my age, I'm sure I can get back to where I was – unless it kills me of course!
So the first thing I did was purchase an exercise bike as I knew I wouldn't have the strength to get back on my road bike for a while. Now, only three weeks later, I can walk 2kms, ride my exercise bike for around a total of 15 minutes per day, and I am only in pain if I sit down too long.
I know it's going to take a while before I can ride my road bike again, but I have a target of the February 4, 2017, as it will be my 80th birthday. I'm sure I'll make it.
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Related links:
Cycling could save you from Alzheimer’s disease
How to reduce your cancer risk
5 ways to stay motivated to exercise during winter