I'm at 6 months recovering from a left Achilles rupture. For anyone doing non-surgical recovery, your videos are hands-down the most useful in my opinion.

Hi. Thank you so much for taking your time to shere your experience with us! I'm 40 years old and teard my achillies tendon apart when I whas landing flat after a jump on a motocross track. I'm now in week 9,5 and this video helpt me alot to not to worry about healing long. I have not dear to stretch the calf at all but now I will start slowley. Thank you again! Greetings from Sweden😊

Just blew out my Achilles almost 4 weeks ago. This was so encouraging and comforting. I've often felt frustrated at the lack of guidance I have had. Like you I went the non-surgical route, and my Achilles blew out EXACTLY the same way yours did, playing basketball, dribbling past my defender from a stop-start to driving to the hoop. It all happened exactly as yours did. Feeling like someone hit the back of my leg hard, feeling a pop, realizing no one touched me.🤦🏻‍♂️Either way, I'm going to watch your vids every week as I hit those same milestones. Thanks again!

Thanks SJ. I am just past 1 week since the injury. I found your videos today and feel very fortunate to have found this early in my injury. I am in UK and on NHS protocol. None surgical route advised. Was in a moon boot for 3d after injury whilst waiting for assessment appointment with specialist. Now in a cast until a week or so when will be fitted for the boot with wedges. Watched your 1yr and 3yr anniversary videos as the light at the end of the tunnel. Looking forward to being mobile again and getting back to weightlifting as that kept me in some sort of shape at least. Played football/soccer after 8 years of not playing as last time picked up a bad leg injury also which resulted in knee brace for weeks and months of recovery! I never seem to learn. Thanks for your videos (I was particularly attracted to them as I lived in Aus for 4 years so your accent spoke to me!!).

I fully rupture my Achilles a couple of days ago. Thank you so much for these. You have no idea how comforting this is.

So grateful for this series!

These videos are so motivational. I appreciate it so much that you chose to make them, thank you

so nice seeing u back to 100%! thanks for your videos giving me confident during my darkest hours!

So many thanks to you SJ for taking the time and effort to put this AMAZING video series together! I was so scared that first week of my rupture not knowing what my future would look like and if I would ever get back to playing the sports I loved so much for the past 25+ years. I tried to play it off to my friends and family pretending to be “ok with not playing basketball ever again” and saying “I had a pretty good run, now it’s finally time to call it quits” (insert fake smile and laugh here), even though deep inside that thought was truly devastating and made me cry a little. Your videos were such an inspiration and showed me that this doesn’t have to be the end! I hope you realize how big of a resource you have been to everyone out there! So happy to see the progress you have made over the years!!! Much love brother!

Thank you SJ for this series. Just blew my left achilles 3 weeks ago and your videos have helped me so much and this video was just the cherry on the top and has given me a lot of hope back :) Big hugs from Denmark :)

Thanks for all your videos SJ! Got ATR couple of days ago. Mentally fully recovered, depression is gone. Just because l'v seen the journey and know that l will be back to normal eventually.

Your videos are invaluable. I followed and did the same. 1.5 years later i am 95% and i am not young! Thank you SJ!!

I blew my right Achilles about a month ago. Initially, I thought my only option was to have surgery. I was bummed about possibly having surgery and knowing it was going to be a lengthy recovery process regardless. But, your experience has helped me feel much more optimistic about going the conservative self-healing route. Thanks, for sharing your experience and knowledge. I’m glad to see that you’re back to 100%. 💪🏾

I just ruptured my Achilles tendon a few days ago and started watching your videos. I'm going the non-surgical route. Thank you for all of the knowledge that you shared throughout your journey Your 3 year update was very reassuring and it gives me hope for the future!

the man, the myth, the legend. glad youre back to 100! I ruptured mine 2 months ago and you've helped me gain confidence in my decision to go non-op. Salute mate!

Hi, thanks for doing this video. Nice to see where things are once a good amount of time has passed and also good to hear the physio and rehab-related advice. I'm coming up to week 8 post-surgery and things are starting to feel much better. Feels like I'm through the worst although also cognisant there's a way to go and stories like yours give me hope of a good outcome! Best wishes from Berlin

Ruptured my achilles balling and opted for surgery just before Covid shutdowns in NYC. I'm still on the path to full strength myself. I have heartfelt memories of watching your videos for support when PT offices were risky places and hard to get in to. Really happy to see you're doing well and continuing to serve up good advice.

You helped me through my Achilles tear in 2020! Non surgical. Thanks man!

Loved this mate. In the UK and ruptured my achillies last week. Decided to vlog the experience and then I found this and youve done such an excellent job. Ill be pointing people here for inspo. Skipped ahead and very glad to see the awesome news! Keep well 🙏

Thanks for your amazing videos. I am 26 days post Achilles tendon rupture. Your videos have been great and have provided me with so much hope. It is great to see you got back to 100%. I am an extremely active 33 year old who hopes to return to my previous fitness levels. I have gone non operative. Thanks again. 👍

Hey SJ, glad to see you at 100%! I am Day 6 Achilles rupture same exact way you did it at bball. Thanks so much for making these videos, doing non-op and feel hopeful with your results. I’m neurotic and shared some concerns you had especially afraid it grows elongated amongst other things like whether or not I’ve been in plantarflexion position enough, etc. Glad to hear you would’ve heeded the advice to start stretching at week 8. Thank you so much for sharing your experience thoroughly and truly helping all of us going through this today!

It was a lovely surprise to see your new video today! And so glad to see that your rehab has been so successful, 3 years in! I'm 6 weeks in the boot at the moment, and your early videos continue to give reassurance, and great advice. One last piece of kudos: I have so much respect for your honesty in these videos, especially being able to admit when you were wrong. This is something that is soooo missing these days, so thanks for that :-) All the best for your continuing good health - keep stretching!

Ruptured my Achilles 19 weeks ago, discovered your channel the night it happened and watched each video daily until i reached the next video in my recovery. Helped with my recovery and the mental aspect of it, kept me on track, thank you, you should get an award!

Currently at week 6 non op, ruptured playing football. Your videos have helped massively, it’s such a good guide on what to expect during the recovery. The evenup shoe you recommended is a must! Thank you from 🇬🇧 🙏

I've just come out of boot today after 12 weeks. Thank you for your videos. Just the inspiration and positivey I need.

your journey documented w so much precision is a must for all going through this. Thank you so much!! I'm religious going over each week of your vids as I go through each week. (I'm about to start week 5)

Wow thanks for the update! Man you've been my inspiration as I ruptured playing basketball and didn't want surgery during covid last year. As a basketball+ golfer I tip my hat to you SJ. You're a legend in ATR recovery groups. Thanks for documenting your journey.

Really great to find a series of vids that take you through the full recovery and rehab from a very personal (rather than medical or commercial) perspective. Ruptured playing football a week ago and while depressed to be missing out on so much in the short term, reassuring that there is some light at the end of the tunnel 🇬🇧⚽️

Watched most of your series and will rewatch once i’m at a relevant stage in my journey. Good to see you back to normal pretty much!

Thanks for this video 3 years later. Some days it is tough but knowing and seeing we will get back to 100% is invaluable.

Hey great to see you again 3 years after your injury. I’m at week 13 and have found your videos extremely helpful. Because of you I felt confident to follow the non surgical route and so far everything is going well. It feels very daunting at the beginning and your videos gave me the reassurance that there was a light at the end of the tunnel.

SJ - so happy to see this post. Have followed your videos religiously since doing my Achilles 5 months ago. Still can’t single calf raise like you could at same stage but your posts have given me great structure and hope. Thanks for producing this series! Ps nice garden 😀

Thanks for the update SJ I’m at week 12 and largely thanks to you went the non surgical route, your videos have been a great source of information and inspiration so thanks so much for that! Keep on keeping on guys,it does get better!

Watched every video. You have me yelling at the TV “stop jumping!”. Just watching is scary. I ruptured my Achilles playing basketball as well. No warning signs. Never injured before in my life. I’m 38 years old. I didn’t get a boot on until day 3 because I didn’t realize it was a torn Achilles. I actually went back into the game and played the entire second half. For all I knew it was just a sprained ankle. It’s my right foot so can’t drive legally. But, worst of all my wedding was 2 weeks after it ruptured. I’m at 4.5 weeks right now. I feel as if I am not getting the proper attention or care so that’s why I’ve gone down this rabbit hole. I’m down to 2 wedges in boot now. The ortho told me to go down to 1 wedge at end of week 5 which is this Friday. Then try to walk in Normal shoes with an insert after week 6. I had almost no pain and felt great until 2 days ago. I’m in boot 24/7 except in the shower. I’ve been weight bearing since after 3 week mark. In the last 2 days I feel I may have aggravated it somehow but not sure. Did you have any pain here and there when in the boot around 5 week mark? Thanks!

Just wanted to say a big thank you! I completely tore my achilles tendon in late 2019 and your videos were both informational and comforting. I still feel some small discomforts every now and again, but basically back to full use.

I’m at 1 year October 5, I thank you for all your videos they were very helpful and I’m happy to say I’m very close to 100 percent

Just ruptured mine a week ago met surgeon it’s a high rupture he wants me to go non surgical route as well glad you made these videos definitely shows light at the end of the tunnel especially if you love sports

You have been more helpful then my doctor and physical therapist. Thank you so much!

Hey SJ, It’s GREAT to see your update! I had a rupture lately and have watched all your videos. Never thought I could see your update in the near future especially when I’m on at week 5. Thanks for all your great work that guides people through the journey!

Hi SJ. I am at 2 year anniversary from rapturing my right Achilles playing squash (Dec 2020). I watched your video on the second night of doing my injury, and thanks to your good insights and explanation, I also went down the non surgical route, and today feel I am back to 100% again. It was a wise choice given all the risks I avoided with surgery. Thanks! All the best. CP

I've been following the channel for a while, glad you fully recovered and also comment about the lows and backdrops you had, it helps me not feeling that bad when those happen. Thank you so much for these videos! I'm on week 11 wish me luck :)

Congrats bro!! Appreciate you documenting your journey to recovery. It has really put me on a positive route to my recovery.

So good to see this pop up. Great video. Glad you’re fully recovered. I totally ruptured my left Achilles in April 2019 during an Aerobics Class (non-surgery route) and your Videos (and Agnes’s) were my go-to for motivation - I genuinely could not have got through my injury without them. It’s difficult to remember now how dreadful it felt emotionally as I’m also fully recovered, although my heel lift is not as good as I’d wished and I do have planter fasciitis so I’ll get doing those heel lifts!

It is great to see you are doing very well. I ruptured my achilles 18 weeks ago and your videos are helping me a lot. I follow you week by week and its great. Massive thanks and regards from UK.

you are the holy grail of this injury!! we progress but w a lot of patience, I check my week against your same week religiously!! I'm at week 18 🙏🙏🙏

Hi SJ, Thank you for sharing your journey on you tube. I ruptured my right achilles tendon november 2020. I went through conservative route as you did. I cant thank you enough for recording and posting the exercises and your progress which shine a bit of light and give guidance with this devastating injury. My injured leg is almost recovered and I returned to my normal life and sports. Thank you

Popped my achilles 2 days ago. Going the non surgical route and this videos give me hope. Thanks 💯

I am currently 24 weeks into my achilles rehab. Completely tore mine off the base of my calf muscle, so it was quite a high tear compared to most others, therefore I had no choice and had to go non-op. Your videos have been very useful in my rehab, really appreciate all the information and its great to hear your feedback and kind of compare my progress to your own. Thanks alot SJ, it's great to see you moving so well!

I watched your videos when I ruptured my Achilles’ tendon 11 months ago. I used your progress to try and get an assessment as to where I was at. Because of COVID I only had one physio session and have had to do the assessments over the phone. I was due to have an operation but it was cancelled last minute. I had 4 months off work and then made the decision to go back. As a kitchen and bathroom fitter it was bloody tough especially getting onto steps and lifting stuff up. I got through it at 53, it’s a long road and you have to stay positive, I am now at a stage I can do most stuff and luckily it only aches a little occasionally. Thanks for posting your progress it kept me motivated.

Hi SJ, happy to see you again, i m now week 21, non op, you are a very important person in my recovery road, thanks a lot

Thanks for the videos. They were so helpful. Im at 7 months with nonsurgical left achilles and I can see that I've come a long way. I'm back to work now but still need PT to regain more strength.

Very good resource i must say, well organized and documented. As you just say at minute 5of this video your ‘bad’ foot has 3-4 cm lower flexibility. I think this is 20% lower vs the healthy foot.and in terms of performance that should be about the same 20% lower performance. What you could do is to test jumping with some easy tests, then measure the difference. You will always come short with the injured foot. But good enough for normal life and being positive about sports. Had you chosen surgery it was different, your mention Kevin Durant - i add Kobe Bryant - they had surgery within hours from injury, 8 months of daily recover and got back onto the court at similar performance. Bottom line is that healing towards 100% is done with surgery. Since you became a good reference for Achille’s injury, i think it would be helpful to mention this clearly. Most people live in countries where surgery is not easily accessible, however it should be clearly said that this is the closest way to recover (close to) 100%. Thank you and keep going!

Thank you so much CJ you have helped me so much in my recovery. I can’t begin to thank you enough you were more help than my physio. I guess learned experience is the best. I followed your rehab plan to the Letter and experienced the same issues but got over them the same way. I’m now 14 months post injury and back to normal. Your videos helped my mental health massively in the first 6 months. Again, THANK YOU!!! Alex, from Manchester, England.

Wow. I don't know if you remember me SJ from 3 years ago. Your video help me out a lot. I full tore my achilles as well and went non-op way. Everything is good for me and feel like I'm 100% again on my injure leg. We just can't give up the sport that gave us the injury and still play basketball again. Hopefully your video helps more people out there who's going through this injury. It's really good seeing you still enjoy shooting hoops.

I ruptured my right achilles 6 days ago, really struggling with getting around on crutches. Done mine playing Table Tennis, at first I thought I had slipped and then pain when trying to get up. But apart from that I really didn't have that much pain. Ultrasound showed a 1cm gap where the tendon had broken. Watching your videos has really helped put my mind at rest as far as longterm recovery.

Great to see you're doing well and thank you so much for the videos. I'm 14 months post injury and your vids have been an invaluable resource and inspiration for my own recovery. Injured it at 36yo and also went non-surgical route. Finally starting to train and play sport again, and while I'm not performing at my previous level yet, I know there is still a lot of capacity for improvement in the coming months.

Good to see you’re doing well! Thats inspirational. You’re videos have been extremely informative. So thank you ! I’m 13 weeks post op(surgical route) and I’m on the tighter side so my PT put me on daily stretch exercises for the next month. I have 30% range of motion compared to my non injured side but im now walking without a boot so ill take it at this point. Everyone reading, take it one day at a time. This is a tough injury but I’m in much better spirits and physical mobility now, than at the start, and thats what matters.

I'm at 7 1/2 weeks, your videos have helped me so much. Thank you for the update.

Great to see a surprise update from you SJ. I'm at month 6 of my recovery. Thank you for your videos!!!

Thanks for sharing your update! 3 years was a long time and see you're back at sports like you used to!

Appreciate the video series. I’m at week 6.5 but went the surgery route with the PARS jig system. Nice to know there is light at the end of the tunnel on this one. Thanks for the tip about the stretches. I’ll get in on the stretches as soon as the PT says to work on it.

Appreciate you sharing the update! 5.5 months in and training to ski this winter!

Thank you for sharing your experience. You did a great job documenting your journey and helping us all on ours. Very professional and it is great to see this update. Well done and take care.

That’s fantastic that you were able to get back to 100% I tore mine last week but didn’t get a cast until 1 week later. The doc said it probably won’t heal correctly and be lengthened because I didn’t get it into a cast early enough. This I went for the surgery route.

Just noticed your video popping up - I snapped my left Achilles October 2018 and your videos really helped me get through the tough recovery - personally I have not recovered 100% feels like 95% max and I have been too scared to go back to playing competitive football since but I do golf but nothing fast paced :-) anymore as I just can’t risk it ;-)

I am on week 1 rupture...non surgical route coz dr says so (not necessary) although i wanted surgical route...hope will recover well and not paranoid of re rupture when going back to usual active times..thx for your informative videos

Love it man . The non-op god is dunking now. I learned a lot from your journey currently at 13 weeks non op . Thanks for sharing SJ !

Hi I just had a rupture, close to full tear. Thanks for sharing this series. I will choose non surgical.

Thanks for my recovery journey. I am almost hitting three years too

Soo I just got told I tore my Achilles.. been loving ur videos to see what I have installed!

Hi SJ. Thanks for the update. It has been 1 year and 8 months for me, non-surgical as well. I followed your videos diligently during my recovery. I think I did heal somewhat long… the good news is that I have even flexibility (c. 16 cm) for both legs but the bad news is that my injured leg’s calf is significantly smaller. I am nonetheless back to all sports without any pain, discomfort or fear. I agree with you it is (almost) like it never happened. A huge thank you for all your video and precious help. Last week, I highly recommended you to a friend who just got injured.

Woww, so confident 🎉 tx for your advices ❤ Doc from Romania didn.t heard about non.op 😢

Nice to see your shape and thank you for your update! I'm 8 weeks in, so hoping to keep progressing and next week getting out of the shoebox.

Thanks the videos. They’ve been a great help. Been out of the boot 4 weeks now after non surgical and fingers crossed it’s going well.

thanks for your help! you've been a great resource throughout recovery.

This is great and brings up my spirit. just ruptured this weekend balling. Thinking non surgery.

Def making me feel better as I'm rehabbing this injury. Thanks sir

This gives me so much hope

Hey good to see you back. I share almost an identical story to you. Thanks for your journey uploas. It really helped me out

Hi thanks for your videos, they were really helpful. I’m at wk4 and I went the same route as you because of your content on your injury. Thanks for the update take care brother and all the best

I'm currently at week 20 post surgery and it's really discouraging that I still can't do a heel raise or walk without a limp or pain and my tendonitis still hasn't gone away. But I am dreaming of this day. When I have the option of not playing basketball because I don't want to rather than because I can't!

More power to you my brother!

I'm at 18 months post and I barley notice it anymore. I notice it when jumping and running as I haven't gotten back to 100% of where I was prior but good enough to play basketball and such with my friends

Awesome! Thanks. At week 8. Glad I watched this video.

love you for what you do man. so glad to see you're doing well and back close to 100%. I had the same injury on my right leg about 3 years ago as well (a few months after your injury) and your videos really helped prop me up. If you're ever in Irvine (Orange County), drop me a message and let me take you out to dinner and introduce you to my bball friends!

I just ruptured mine Sunday, October 15 2023. Yhe surgeon I saw today wouldn't even consider non-surgical. I have a 3 mm tear and I've had my toes in the downward position since Sunday. I immediately knew what happened. My surgery is scheduled for Tuesday, Oct 24 but I'm not fully committed to that route

Thx SJ, I just broke 2 week 😢

Appreciate you, bro. I'm 10 weeks in... Been following you the entire time. How are you now, 7 years later?

Thanks for the update! Watched your videos for encouragement and info after my rupture. It’ll be 1 year since injury, 11 months since surgery next week. I’ve done some pretty serious hikes and can lightly jog now, but still a lot of work to do before I could play a sport again. Good luck to everyone working on it

Did mine in early 2019 it feels good though I do get the occasional twinge but your videos defo helped me during the first part of recovery 👍🏽

thanks so much man

Thank you so much for your series SJ, I have really appreciated your insights during this challenging journey. I’m 11 weeks post Achilles rupture (happened during tennis) and 8 weeks post surgery. Although I initially had the option of either treatment route, I eventually required the tendon repair surgery due to the size of my tendon gap (3 cm) which was not showing signs of healing/reconnecting. May I ask what the size of your tendon gap was? I know you are a huge fan of the non-surgical route, and pushed it heavily throughout the series, but there is some (albeit limited) research suggesting the size of the tendon gap may lend itself better to surgery when above 2 cm. It would be interesting to know the size of your tendon gap, given your successful recovery with the non-surgical route.

Yessir back like u never left

Let's have another update

Hi, SJ. Thank you for your videos and the information provided. You are so kind. Looking back on your recovery, if you went back, would you have chosen the operative route? I'd like to get your experience on this. Thank you kindly.

I just tore my Achilles today. So glad I found your videos! Do you wish you had removed the wedges sooner? Thank you for documenting & sharing your journey!

ty sj

Hey there, brother, can you make another update video so we can see how u are doing now?

SJ, very informative collection of videos and much appreciated as they are inspiring. I sustained my injury very similarly to yours hooping on the 1st of June. My rupture happened in Colombia so the practices are skewed towards surgery, though I’ve seen two surgeons within the first 48 hours and im scheduled for a 3rd opinion I’ve decided non surgical. They’ve got me in a 20 degree plantar flexion cast within 48 hours of my injury to my request. I have an MRI scheduled this week to find out if it’s fully ruptured but while in this cast I worry about DVT, which I’ve already got my aspirin. Did you experience pain in your heel in the beginning stages and as well do you cover in later videos how the tendons reconnect on their own? Thanks🙏🏾

Hi SJ, Your channel helps a lot for my recovery. I have watched your every single video. It really helps. Just wondering if you have tried or heard about the shockwave treatment? Can shockwave treatment help with scar tissue a lot? Can achilles tendon become much thinner after the treatment? Thanks!