In this heart-stopping episode of Surgical Goals, we talk to the incredible Ethan Walker. A promising young footballer, Ethan's dreams had taken him from the east coast of Scotland to the US on a scholarship, where life was sweet for the young athlete. Fate intervened though when he was hit by a car landing him in intensive care, fighting for his life with brain bleeds, skull fractures, and a completely dislocated knee among his list of injuries. His very survival seemed uncertain and h...

In our latest episode all about knee injuries, we are delighted to be joined once again by top sports physio Adam Stokes who has over a decade of experience at the forefront of care and treatment in elite, professional football clubs. Prof Mackay and Adam have worked together in the past when injured players have needed surgery and rehab.  Adam also has a huge interest in injury data analysis and a specialization in ACL injuries and rehabilitation. So who better to talk to about this subject,...

Commonwealth medal-winning badminton player Susan Egelstaff had her sights firmly set on the London 2012 Olympics when disaster struck. Sitting in the GB No. 1 spot everything was on course to qualify when she suffered a terrible knee injury. In this brilliant episode, she talks candidly about what it was like after 14 years of training to get to this point only to face having your dreams swept away. You don't have to be a badminton player to emphasise with Susan's story, it will resonate...

In our latest episode, we have the privilege of chatting with a young cross-country mountain bike champion who has the world at his wheels! Just 22, Charlie Aldridge first rode to victory in 2019 becoming Junior World Champion, and three years later claimed the prestigious title of British National Champion.  But his recent achievement is his biggest win to date - becoming the 2023, U23 World Champion - a victory made even sweeter as it was won on home turf in Scotland. Of course, it's such...

Prof Mackay nearly crashed his car when he tuned into Heart Radio and heard Jennifer chatting to a former patient, Kirsty Mack, about becoming only the 6th ever Scottish woman to climb Everest! The reason for his astonishment was that he and the mountaineer and ski instructor met after she crashed, skiing off-piste in Scotland, was whisked off the mountains by helicopter and then ended up on his operating table having surgery for the bad shoulder injury she sustained. So of course we had to...

Well, one thing's for sure Scotland could have done with a little of the magic of former Captain Richard Gough in their friendly against England recently. We however were lucky enough to welcome him to the podcast. Dominating football in the 90s, Richard was capped 61 times for Scotland and played for famous clubs like Everton and Tottenham Hotspur. But for the young lad who started his career at Dundee United, it was his ten years with Rangers, many as Captain, for which he is most famous. ...

Women's football is full of talk about an ACL injury 'epidemic' - but is this really the case? To help us find answers we are delighted to welcome to the podcast, world-leading ACL injury research expert Professor Kate Webster who is Director of the Sport, Exercise, and Research Focus Area at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia.  For over 20 years Professor Webster's research has covered many topics that relate to ACL injury, surgery, and recovery - not only the biomechanical changes...

A brilliant chat with Angela Mudge who is surely one of our most incredible athletes. Her list of achievements as a Hill, Mountain and Skyrunner is extraordinary - she has won the Scottish Hill Running Championships several times, as well as the Women's World Mountain Running Trophy, the World Masters Mountain Running Championships and the Buff Skyrunner World Series - but that's just the tip of the iceberg. Angela views running and races as a series of tough challenges but with the added...

Welcome to our latest episode in which we have the privilege of sitting down with the incredible Rachel Corsie, a true superstar in the world of Women's Football. She has been capped for Scotland over 140 times, beating the setback of an ACL rupture in 2012 to go on to triumph in teams all over the world. Rachel's journey has been nothing short of remarkable and she is currently signed for Aston Villa and playing in the Women's Super League. For Rachel, overcoming her ACL rupture was a...

Fantastic to chat with top US foot and ankle doc Troy Watson. Sports injuries specialist, Troy is the foot and ankle consultant for among others, UNLV Athletics, UFC, the Las Vegas Raiders, the Golden Knights, and the Silver Knights. Ever the innovator Troy has collaborated with Prof Mackay many times on the development of the InternalBrace ligament repair technique for ankle injuries and so we were delighted we managed to grab a little time with him on a recent visit to the UK. We chat...

Brilliant to welcome Olympian and World Cup gold winner, Judoka James Austin to the podcast. Incredibly James has also won the British title in three different weight categories (we ask him how that is even possible!) James and Prof Mackay met when James suffered a serious knee injury which ultimately kept him out of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 2014. Talking to James the first thing that comes across is his absolute love for the sport of Judo still going strong after stumbling across...

In this episode we explore the latest breakthroughs and cutting-edge techniques for treating and preventing sports knee injuries. Having just attended a Sports Knee Congress where top surgeons, medics, and rehab experts come together to update on all the latest thinking Prof Mackay and Jennifer chat through some of the most interesting findings and results. From amateur athletes to seasoned professionals, we know knee injuries can be a game-changer, often posing significant challenges to an...

In his stellar football career, Mark Hateley played for some of the world's biggest clubs including A.C.Milan, Monaco, and Rangers as well as being capped 32 times for England. He also beat several injuries the worst of which was a catastrophic ankle dislocation which required several surgeries.  We chat to him about it all - what it was like to be a top player in those incredible days, the clubs, the friendships - life in Monaco with neighbours like Ayrton Senna, that famous haircut and the...

Watching Rangers winger Scott Wright today play his usual fast, attacking game you would never guess that in his Aberdeen FC days, he suffered every footballer's nightmare - a ruptured ACL.  Joining us in this episode alongside Scott is Adam Stokes who was club Physio at the time and played a huge role in Scott's recovery. Together the pair talk us through Scott's injury, choosing InternalBrace surgery with Prof Mackay, and then his rehab and recovery. Adam had had experience dealing with...

A tale of a remarkable recovery - talking to triathlete Lucy Crookston who beat the odds to compete in a World Triathlon Finals just 12 weeks after surgery on her torn patellar tendon. Originally a track specialist at 400m hurdles Lucy stumbled on triathlon by chance but was instantly hooked, and it became her new obsession. She has gone on to rub shoulders with the best in the world, competing in World and European finals and incredibly one of those appearances was just 12 weeks after...

In the second of our short episodes talking to visiting sports surgeons from the US we chat to Professor of Orthopedic Surgery and Chief of Foot & Ankle at UC Davis, California, Dr Eric Giza who also just happens to be a massive Aston Villa fan!   When they first met to collaborate, Prof Mackay realised that Eric was not just a massive football fan but had a background working at some of the biggest clubs around the world. Eric explains where his passion for the game comes from and how...

In this episode our guest is top foot and ankle surgeon from New York, Dr James McWilliam MD. 'Jim' has been collaborating with Prof Mackay now for over 10 years now on the InternalBrace technique, so while he was over on a visit to the UK recently we jumped at the chance to talk with him about his practice in general and about the sports injuries he commonly sees. We chat over his current thinking on treatments for everything from ankle sprains to achilles ruptures and the common but...

Sarah Adlington's list of achievements is impressive - among them taking back-to-back golds in the Commonwealth Games in 2012 and 2022 (there was no judo in the 2018 games). She has also won the heavyweight British title no fewer than 6 times!  As an impatient 5-year-old she watched her Dad and brother doing judo and could not wait to take to the mats herself - she never looked back.  Along the way though Sarah has battled some pretty serious shoulder injuries. Wear and tear injuries are...

Brilliant episode with former WBC lightweight world champion Jim Watt MBE. One of Scotland's most successful boxers, he also became known as the voice of the sport, spending 40 years commentating with ITV & Sky Sports. It was nearly a very different story though as Jim had his sights set on being a footballer before his talent was spotted on a visit to a boxing club. We take a tour through his career - from his first ever easy wins as a young lad to his decision to turn down competing...

Seb Coe, Steve Ovett, Zola Budd, all household names from the 80s, but we reckon Olympian Kirsty Wade (née McDermott) is right up there among them. She is one of the finest middle-distance runners the UK has ever produced and we were delighted to welcome her and Tony, her husband and former coach, to the studio. Kirsty may underplay her achievements, which are too long to list here, but they include triple Commonwealth gold wins at 800m & 1500m and breaking many records, some of which...

Our guest this episode is pro-football superstar Ifeoma Dieke who has been capped 123 times for Scotland.  Iffy's is a remarkable journey - from playing as a schoolgirl on the pitches of Cumbernauld to taking a scholarship place in Miami and becoming the first black woman to captain Scotland. Then in 2012 she was named as a member of Team GB's Olympic squad. Unfortunately disaster struck in the second game leaving her with serious knee injury which ruptured her ACL and left her with meniscus...

Here is a great plot for a sports adventure film - an athlete is training hard for winter Olympic glory - the games are a mere 7 months away. But then disaster strikes - he suffers a bad achilles rupture.  His only chance of recovering and competing in the timeframe is choosing pioneering surgery, (although no one is quite sure of the rehab protocols). The athlete takes a chance, gets to the games and his team finishes a respectable fifth. But wait there's always a twist! Two Russian teams...

In part 2 of our shoulder injury podcast we cover everything from frozen to fractured shoulders, broken collarbones to impingement and arthritis. In part 2 of our look at shoulder problems we look at the collarbone and its importance in maintaining shoulder health and why there is more to it than commonly realised. We also chat about frozen shoulders - a cover-all phrase often misapplied to shoulder problems. It follows a clear path and can be recognised by specific symptoms and we chat...

The shoulder is an incredibly complicated joint, it has to be to carry out its full range of motion so how realistic was the sight of Mel Gibson famously slamming his dislocated joint into a wall to pop it back in? Shoulder injuries occur for many reasons from direct trauma to wear and tear problems - the correct diagnosis and treatments are crucial to return the joint to health. So if you have ever wished you could sit and chat to a sports surgeon about your own shoulder then this podcast is...