IAN BRATTON SUFFERS BAD ANKLE BREAK PLAYING FOOTBALL

E-mail from Ian Bratton
Newburgh-on-Ythan GC
PGA professional
 
I am emailing you from my hospital bed.
Last Tuesday I played five aside football in the Blackburn Gala. I had arranged my team: myself, my assistant Jamie, his friend Blair, Tim Gray (ex Cruden Bay assistant pro), Jason Brown (ex AFC keeper), Oldmeldrum GC pro Hamish Love, and my friend Gavin an ROV op from Blackburn.
We narrowly lost the first two games , and were halfway through the third of four when Jason passed a high ball through the middle to me.
 I leaped up to control the ball with my right foot and landed on my left foot with a loud snap. I had a look at my foot and thought my boot had came off , unfortunately it was the ankle going the wrong way. 
It was broken badly and not a pretty sight. Everybody there were tremendous and I had a support team around me until the paramedics arrived.
I went straight into surgery and they straightened up the ankle with a steel plate and screws. I had a follow-up operation on Friday to close up the open fracture. 
The surgeon seems happy with his work although he had never seem one like it, other than reading about it in books. Both sides of the left ankle and the bone that meets the ankle all smashed and the tendons twisted round the bone. 
Eight weeks in plaster, no work for a while , no golf for a long time.
I was supposed to be playing in Newburgh-on-Ythan Golf Club's 125th anniversary match with Paul Lawrie on  June 7.
We hope to fix a replacement for me.
So it's home to catch up on some paper work from a busy start of the golf season.
 
Ian Bratton
Newburgh on Ythan Golf Club.