American Mountaineer gets Knee surgery done in Chennai
Search for More News Chennai, Feb 10: A 60-year-old American mountaineer John Parker, who recently underwent an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) ‘reconstruction’ and ‘partial medial menisectomy’, will be able to pursue his passion for rock climbing in three to four months’ time, his doctor has said. “He (Parker) will be able to go back to his normal work and activity. In three to four months, he will be able to go for rock climbing in which he excels”, Dr A K Venkatachalam, consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Sri Venkateswara Hospital here, said. “I am really looking forward to take up rock climbing once again, which is what I really love”, Parker, a mason by profession from Colorado, said from his bed at the hospital. Venkatachalam said Parker had torn his ligament in 1997, which made him unstable while walking. “We have now removed one-third of the torn portion”. “In 1997, when I got injured, I was climbing the 26,900 feet high Cho Oyu mountain, about 40-west of Mount Everest and in Tibet,” he said. In November 2005, while practicing to climb Shishapanga in Tibet (26,400 feet), “I fell down and had great pain, but I walked back to my place in Tibet”. Through the Internet, he managed to contact Dr Venkatachalam, for the surgery. Incidentally, Parker also has a dislocated left shoulder, for which he will undergo treatment in a few weeks time in the city. Venkatachalam said Parker would have to use crutches and braces for two weeks, after which he would undergo surgery for his left shoulder. (Our Correspondent) Published: Friday, February 10, 2006