A leading amateur athlete from Pulborough crippled by osteoarthritis won a sprint triathlon only 12

weeks after having hip replacement surgery.

Michael Rix thought his competitive running career was over when he developed the bone disease in

his left hip at 40.

But an implant developed by British company JRI Orthopaedics has helped ensure he is back

competing at the highest level as a Team GB athlete, including winning a silver medal in the 2015 World Duathlon Championships.

Michael confesses he was overweight and very unfit when he got a place in the 2004 London

Marathon and Triathlon.  He said: “I was five stone heavier than I am now with high blood pressure and I couldn’t even get up a flight of stairs without getting out of breath.”

But his marathon training gave Michael the fitness bug and, within three years of joining a running

club, he was a UK Championship marathon runner and triathlete and competed regularly in half and

full Iron Man events.

Mike said : “I was running 100 to 120 miles a week at one point and felt like I was invincible, but then one day I got out of bed and found I could not put my sock on.”

The father-of- one was referred to leading orthopaedic surgeon Kerry Acton at the Royal Surrey

County Hospital who used a Furlong Evolution implant designed and manufactured by British

company JRI Orthopaedics.

JRI was the first in the world to develop a Hydroxyapatite ceramic coating on hip replacements – a

synthetic version of the natural mineral present in bones.

Michael added: “I feel as if I have a completely new lease of life. It has been amazing. I think the

orthopaedic research that JRI fund is admirable, and for me as a GB competitor to be using an

innovative GB-made product is fantastic.”