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.”