16.5.2019
Double Delight for Michael Browne in SA Disabled Open!
Michael story
Oct 17th 2011 my life changed forever. What we thought was just a broken leg turned into being my biggest nightmare. I was put into an X fix frame and this is where my nightmare began. From this I got an infection but the doctors didn’t realise until it was to late. It had eaten all the muscles in my knee resulting in the loss of my knee and a fused leg in tow. I was then put in an illizarov frame( basically five spoked by cycle wheels running through my leg) However this didn’t work and on May the 1st 2013 I sat down with my surgeon and made the choice to amputate my leg from above the knee and on May the 7th my leg was gone and it sounds crazy but it was the best choice I have ever made.
I went through Headly court which is a rehabilitation centre for all military personal. I was then at a recovery centre where I saw a poster for a golf try out day with the On course foundation. Seeing as I could not do all the normal sports anymore I thought I may as well see what golf was all about. That’s where my life changed direction again but this time in a way I could never of imagined. I fell in love with the sport straight away, although I had not played before and couldn’t really hit a ball there was just something about it that made me think I could give this a go.
So I signed up for my first on course event on the 23rd of oct 2013 and the rest is history. I got my first handicap in jun of 2014 at 28 and just over 2 and a half years later I was playing off of 4 and have met some amazing people in my short Time in the golfing world.
In aug 2016 I turned pro and headed out to Spain on tour. When I got back after a successful winter I was invited to MP Mike Penning’s charity day after meeting Terry Butterworth and from there they introduced me to Dr. Jan Telensky. I was struggling with my leg at the time as the socket wasn’t fitting. That’s where Dr Telensky stepped in and changed my life. He offered to have a socket made for me and a few weeks later I was able to walk without any pain and able to concentrate on my golf. A few weeks ago he also got me another state of the art socket with a new boa system in stalled and yet again he has changed my life as this time the socket is unbelievable. I can alter the size of it to accommodate my leg as it swells when I walk so much. I can loosen it off as I walk to release the muscle and let it relax then all I have to do it tighten it up and I’m good to go again. I would like to say many many thanks to Dr Jan Telensky and I am forever grateful.
