May I introduce Myself…*

(work -in-progress)

‘I am Kneo, Barbara’s metal brace keeping her lower left leg straight, so she can walk almost without pain, replacing much of the ligament and joint in her knee which are no longer able to do their job. I am a bit stiff myself and rigid, from the metal sole, through the ankle joint to the belt at the top which gets tied round Barbara’s calf. Getting me to her was a palaver, last December. The agency that was supposed to advance international health expenses for Barbara – such as prescriptions and mobility aids – blankly refused. As Barbara geared up to get the matter resolved through a complaint, she managed to get the trader to lend her the brace so she could return home with it – leaving pain behind. It took a while before the supervisors of the original decision maker saw sense. In the meantime, Barbara was supported in her complaint by a case worker from the British Foreign Ministry in Berlin of all people, right in the middle of the finale of Brexit.

Truth be told, I did not have much to do most of the time since but sat in the shed while Barbara continued with her routine cycling round her little home town in England. But after taking a tumble on the bike this autumn, she began to need my support even just for the muscles in the lower calf which remained sore. So I came out of the shed..’

worn over jodhpurs

brace myself – back

in the saddle**

**At the moment, the author is reflecting on ways to get to complete her career and conscientious action. See https://centralbylines.co.uk/protecting-the-whistleblowers-part-1/

Accepting a brace and wearing it in full sight over tight trousers, rather than undergoing a knee operation which may not bring much improvement, might be a way to brace herself.

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*story inspired by a piece in the magazine ‘db mobil’. The editors of this entertaining free magazine for rail customers distributed in trains, occasionally challenge a fiction writer to come up with a life story for one of the items in the lost/found locker, in this case an artificial leg.

~ by Barbara S on December 30, 2021.