Marathon surgery saves woman’s voice, life and her love of coffee

Her dreams of further athletic achievement shattered, Frecklington heroically put the pieces of her life back together.

“One thing my accident taught me is that life is for living, so get out there and do it. That’s why I was in Spain. I gave myself a couple of years off – in the end I got six months,” she says.

A visit to a doctor in Spain confirmed the worst-case scenario – part of her metal implant had punctured through into her throat.

An initial surgery to correct it was abandoned halfway through when doctors realised how extensive the problem was.

“I went in for the surgery and they woke me up afterwards and said they hadn’t done anything because they didn’t have the facilities.

“They just put a feeding tube in me and…