Chris Ward - It's Worth It

Chris Ward worked for Royal Mail for nearly 30 years. But after an accident left him in serious pain, he soon developed osteoarthritis.

This is Chris’s story…

I used to work for Royal Mail and when I was there I did almost every job under the sun. I drove lorries, I was a postman - I did it all. You can imagine in jobs like those you’re always on the go. It’s a good thing I love to walk. In fact I love walking so much that at one point I calculated I was walking 60 miles a week. Which, as you can imagine, is a lot more than your usual step count.

Then one day at work I slipped in the car park. It was as simple as that. But it was bad and resulted in a very serious injury. As I slipped I separated my right knee joint. That caused the ligament in my knee to snap which in turn caused the cartilage in my knee to fold in on itself. If that all sounds horrific, I can assure you it certainly felt like that. I couldn’t straighten it, the whole leg was at a very unusual angle. 

I couldn’t walk properly for about 6 months. I was in agony. The doctors told me I would need a total knee replacement but I had to wait nearly seven and a half years before they actually got around to doing it. During that time and as a result of the injury, osteoarthritis set in on that knee. I was struggling to walk, I was in a lot of pain and even the most basic of tasks became a problem for me. In 2012 I went to my chemist to get more painkillers for my knee - this was prior to the joint replacement - and they told me about this new stuff on the market called FlexiSEQ.

They told me how to use it in the shop, and why it’s important to apply it correctly. I put some on there and then. I couldn’t believe the results. It was almost like it helped immediately - I was able to walk out of the shop with my knee feeling better than it had in a long time.

For a good few years FlexiSEQ kept me going. Then in 2019 I finally managed to get my knee replacement done. It was always going to be needed as the injury and osteoarthritis in that joint was too far gone for anything to prevent the surgery. And for a long time everything was great, I’d said goodbye to FlexiSEQ as I didn’t need it anymore.

Then recently my left knee started to cause me pain. It’s really not surprising as my left knee had to overcompensate for so long because of my right knee. It really was having to take all the load for me. What is extraordinary is the pain I’m experiencing this time feels much worse than it was when I had that horrendous injury. I was struggling to get up off the sofa, I had to go up the stairs basically on my hands and knees. I’ve got a dog who I love to walk and I was struggling to go for those walks.