Terry Finnie is from Ringsend in Dublin and has worked as an expert elevator engineer all his life. A workplace accident more than 25 years ago eventually led him to need a hip replacement. He’s 63 and was told he was too young for the operation.

His ambition now is to be back on the golf course by next March. Terry tells his story here:

“I have been a lift engineer all my life. I can trace the issues with my hip back to 1996 and a workplace accident. “I was called out to check the elevators in McDonalds in O’Connell Street in Dublin after a breakdown. I fixed the lift, put up signage and climbed on top of the lift for a final check.

“Unfortunately, a young lad came along and pressed the button. The lift took off and I ended up being jammed me between a steel girder. My right knee was pressed against my neck. “I had put my body into full protection mode and I could hear the lift humming, trying to move. I was trapped. Everything flashed in front of me. I could see my wife, my children, my life all flash in front of me. I thought ‘this is it’. I thought I was going to be killed. “The only thing I remember was saying ‘press the button again’. The young lad got a fright and he pressed the button. “The lift moved downwards again. As it did so my left leg shot out and caught on a bracket, leaving me with a gash in my calf. I somehow
managed to walk onto the landing and collapsed.

“I woke up and saw six Dublin firemen around me. They were cutting my clothes off and treating my wounds and giving me oxygen. They kept asking me if I was ok. “I was released from hospital fairly quickly after getting stitches but I was never told there was anything else wrong with me. “Not long afterwards I started getting pains in my hips and my pelvis
and it got worse over the years, for 27 years. “I paid to see a consultant privately in Dublin and he was quite clear; that my pains were a result of the accident all those years ago.

“My work as a lift engineer over the years and the accident had taken their toll on my body. In 2017 I was put into the HSE system and I waited and waited. I was told I needed a new hip.

“My wife called Healthcare Abroad and she said she knew straight away that I should go with them. And my GP knew about them as well so it was a very easy decision. My wife is a great judge – and she was certainly right about going to Spain with Healthcare Abroad.

“The service was phenomenal throughout. You are looked after all the way. You can’t beat it.”