Former Wolves striker wins High Court case over surgery he says ‘ended career prematurely’ | OneFootball

Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, 39, has won a High Court challenge against leading surgeon Professor James Calder over an ankle arthroscopy carried out after a 2013 injury while at Wolves. Mrs Justice Lambert found the procedure contributed to the former striker’s decline.

According to ExpressAndStar.com, Ebanks-Blake said that during surgery to fix a fracture sustained against Birmingham City, the joint was cleaned and cartilage removed, which triggered inflammation and accelerated osteoarthritis, and that he was not properly warned of the risks.

Prof Calder denied wrongdoing and maintained the treatment, if anything, prolonged the player’s career. Ebanks-Blake played on for six years, retiring in 2019 after spells with Shrewsbury Town, AFC Telford United, Halesowen Town and Walsall Wood.

After a trial in London earlier this year, the judge ruled that, on the balance of probabilities, without the arthroscopy he would have returned to his pre-accident pain-free state. She described the injury as a modest acute ankle fracture and said the decision to perform the arthroscopy and other procedures was neither reasonable nor logical.

The court found that removing scar tissue and degenerate cartilage destabilised the joint, altered its biomechanics and accelerated degenerative change, causing pain.

Ebanks-Blake had believed the 2013 damage was only ligament-related and drove home, but an MRI scan later identified a fracture. A further hearing will determine the level of damages.

Source: ExpressAndStar.com