BBC’s man at Wimbledon: How fooling about on a hoverboard nearly ended my tennis playing days
ANDREW CASTLE on the party stunt that went disastrously wrong and the intricate wrist op that saved his game
IT’S a tough and often painful way to earn a living – as evidenced at Wimbledon this year by Andy Murray hobbling out of the tournament on a dodgy hip, American Bethanie MattekSands’s horrific knee-tearing fall and Novak Djokovic’s insurmountable elbow injury.
So it is with no little embarrassment that BBC tennis presenter Andrew Castle admits that the injury that almost cut short his playing days was not due to an accident on court, but because of some ill-advised showing off on his 12-year-old nephew’s hoverboard.
The drama unfolded, as it so often does, after several glasses of wine at a family New Year’s Eve party last year. Castle, 53, the former British No1 turned TV host, explains: ‘There’s a technique to getting on and off a hoverboard, and I didn’t master it. After a few stumbles that left me on the concrete floor of our kitchen, my wife Sophia insisted I didn’t get on it again.’
However, the lure of trying to tame the motorised board – a powered, two-wheeled device that is notoriously difficult to balance on – proved too much for his stillundimmed competitive spirit.
He says: ‘Several glasses of wine later, I thought, “I’ll just have another quick go.”
‘I went flying. The whole party stopped in its tracks because I hit the floor so hard. I went backwards and landed hard on my right wrist. I lay on the floor wondering how many bits I was in. I was in shock.’
Castle, who also hosts a London radio show, initially thought he had simply sprained his wrist.
But over the next two-and-a-half weeks the pain continued to keep him awake at night, while playing tennis – one of his regular opponents is former Prime Minister David Cameron – became increasingly difficult.
‘It was a dull ache. As a sportsman, I am used to hurting, so I did just try to carry on,’ he says. ‘But this was more than that. There was no power. I was trying to hit a forehand volley and I just couldn’t, I missed it by miles. It definitely wasn’t right. Like most men, the first thing I did was deny it.’
AT SOPHIA’S insistence, and five weeks after the accident, Castle finally went to his GP and after a thorough examination was immediately referred to hand and wrist surgeon Shamim Umarji at London’s St George’s Hospital, who diagnosed a ruptured ligament.
Castle says: ‘A day later I was in surgery because I was told there was no time to waste if this thing was to be fixed. It was scary, because I realised I might never play tennis again.’
The wrist joint is made up of eight bones that attach the lower ends of the arm bones – the radius and ulna – to the five major bones in the hand and multiple ligaments, the tough bands of tissue that give the joint stability and flexibility.
Castle had damaged the scapholunate ligament, which sits in the middle of the wrist. Some strains and minor tears – known as partial ruptures – may heal without treatment, but a complete ligament rupture usually requires surgery.
Ms Umarji says: ‘Andrew came to us at a late stage, after almost six weeks, so we couldn’t guarantee the outcome.
‘If we operate within the first five days of an injury, there is an 85 per cent chance of success. However, at this stage, when patients have usually allowed the damage to worsen, success rates drop to as low as 40 per cent. It can actually make things worse, as it’s more complicated to re-operate if the first repair fails. But if you don’t operate, rapidly developing arthritis is a big risk. We had to tell Andrew it was possible he’d never play tennis again.’ Surgery took two hours, under general anaesthetic. First, a small incision is made in the wrist through which a camera is inserted. ‘We have to see if the ligament is repairable,’ said Ms Umarji. Next, the wrist is opened up and the ligament is painstakingly repaired with ‘hair-like’ stitches and wires, which act as an internal splint. These are removed in a second procedure, after six weeks. Castle then had to have intensive hand physiotherapy.
Ms Umarji continued: ‘This is just as important as the surgery, and Andrew had it for six months, pretty intensively.
‘Some patients can be tempted to take things too fast and are not religious about the hand therapy. They damage the surgery and undo the repair. It’s not uncommon. But Andrew followed our advice religiously and has had a brilliant outcome.’
Castle said: ‘After the surgery, I didn’t do anything physical for six months except for my physio exercises. I was doing rehab on my hand every day for a year. My shoulder muscle started to wither away because my wrist and
hand are my tools and I wasn’t using them.
‘Also, my back, butt and legs hurt in certain ways that I’d never experienced before because I’d lost so much power in my right side. It was very strange.’
In the months following his surgery, Castle, who lives in SouthWest London, had to completely adapt his lifestyle.
‘I couldn’t play tennis, brush my teeth or write. It affected everything. I remember reaching for things, then realising I couldn’t.
‘I did get some sympathy from my daughters Georgina and Claudia, who are in their 20s.
‘But at the same moment, they thought I was an idiot. I had been told to stay off the hoverboard. It was my mistake.’
Castle, who also went through a hip-replacement operation four years ago, admits that ‘time moved slowly’ during rehabilitation. ‘It’s frustrating,’ he says. ‘But when you start to feel better, it’s joyful. It’s worth aiming for.’
Several months after his hand operation, his first tennis game was with legend of the game Martina Navratilova. ‘We were doing an exhibition last summer and some demonstrations together. I love playing tennis with her. We go back a long way.
‘But the first ball I hit to her went off court by about 15ft. I realised I was not as recovered as much as I thought. So it took until last November until I played my first proper game. And now, my wrist feels even stronger than before.’
He was delighted to receive an invitation to play in Wimbledon’s Over-45s doubles tournament this year, partnered with American star Michael Chang.
Castle says: ‘It concludes my rehab, really. Wimbledon as an event is unequalled. Win or lose, I am just happy to be able to play.
‘And now I stay well away from hoverboards.’