One person, who has previously been a standard fixture as a participant at the Queensland Winter Carnival, has been notably absentee from the 2023 edition of the event … and missing the prime time months of racing in his home state has been a painful experience for Jim Byrne in more ways than one.
“I’ve had knee surgery. Going back in time, I tore the meniscus in my left knee. Subsequent to that, I had a fall after which they put a plate in my knee and I needed to have another operation after that … but, what happened recently was that both knees ended up going,” explained Byrne.
“I had a torn meniscus on the left side, and, on the right side, I had the plate removed and the meniscus was torn again and basically the cartilage was floating debris in the joint.
“I tried to get on with things while trying to protect my body.
“I’d been taking that much medication I had to get my gall bladder out. I was able to start taking anti-inflammatories after I had my gall bladder out, but then anti-inflammatories weren’t working anymore and the pain killers were doing nothing, so it got to the stage, with the carnival just kicking off, where I said to my wife I just can’t continue.
“I’d been hoping that things would settle down … but they just weren’t settling down.
“The pain was horrendous. I’d had enough.
“I had to make a choice. As I saw it, I had two choices. It was either get the surgery done … or retire, pull the pin and say that’s me done. Enough is enough.
“I’m not ready to retire. I couldn’t think of anything worse … so, for me, I just had to get the surgery done.
“I wasn’t having a great season, but the carnival has always been a really good time for me. I’ve always had a fair bit of luck in some shape or form, and I’ve never really had a bad carnival … but the situation had got to the stage where, when you are physically in pain all of the time, it that makes you dark mentally on it … so it had to be fixed then, irrespective of how bad the timing was.
“It was about weighing up what I had to do to be still able to continue after things have been rectified.
“I haven’t even put any pressure on my legs yet. I am a bit stiff in the morning, but that’s understandable given that I’ve had the plate out and I’ve had both knees cleaned out.
“It’s just been all rehab work. A big thing is that at the moment I am in no pain … and I’m just trying to do the right thing to help the healing process and give my legs the time to recover and build up properly … just to let them get there and then I’ll be ready to give it a real go.
“In terms of any timeframe for my return, the doctor is saying possibly in September. I’m not going to rush it, but, at the same time, September seems like it is so far away. I was thinking the middle of August at least … but, yeah, there is no need at all to rush it.
“My mindset is that when I come back there is no reason for it not to be good. Previously there was a plate in there … the meniscus was torn up … the floating debris … so, with all of that taken care of, when I come back there will be no excuses for the last ten years of my career.
“That’s what I am hoping for.
“I’m hoping my body will get better and better. I know it will. There is no reason for it not to as long as I do the right thing by it.
“I do get frustrated sometimes. It’s difficult because there is not a great deal I can do at the moment.
“I am driving my wife a bit mad, but I tend to cook dinner a lot, so that’s some compensation for her for putting up with me being around so much.
“It’s just a time thing now … a waiting game for the healing process … but I will be back!”
