UK ice skaters overcome adversity to get to Olympics final

UK ice skaters overcome adversity to get to Olympics final

The mothers of two British ice skaters who today won through to an Olympic final said their appearance and success was 'nothing short of a miracle.'

Nicholas Buckland and Penny Coomes, both 28, overcome major surgery to make it to the winter Olympics and were not expected to progress.

Buckland had life-saving heart surgery in 2014 and Coomes suffered a serious knee injury which forced her off the rink for 18 months in the run up to these Olympics amid fears she may never have been able to skate again.

After the successful heart operation and with his partner still side lined last year, Buckland practiced lifting without Coomes and worked with a sandbag or a piece of equipment filled with water to skate through their programmes as usual.

Coomes is still under rehabilitation for her knee which was smashed into eight pieces. Part of her knee lodged in her shin and another into her thigh after a training accident in Michigan after performing a routine with her partner.

She said: 'I just remember my throat hurting from screaming.'

She was flown back to London with Buckland by her side and taken to the Princess Grace Hospital where, Professor Fares Haddad, a consultant orthopaedic and trauma surgeon, got to work.

After the skilled surgeon had done his work, months of physiotherapy followed before she was able to bend her leg, begin to walk again and put on her ice skates.

But their families said they dared not dream of winning a medal in Korea but were happy just to make it to Korea after several traumatic years.

Their proud mothers flew into Korea at the weekend to support the ice dancers who battled back from their ailments to try and achieve their Olympic dreams.

They unveiled a Union flag and shouted their names as they took to the ice.

Buckland's mother Julie, a lawyer from Nottingham, said today: 'They are just happy to be here. But you can never know what will happen in the final free skate stage.

'They have finished in the top ten today (in the qualifying round) and have a chance of a medal on Tuesday, but a clean skate is the best I think we can hope for tomorrow. But you just never know.'

Coomes' mother Jane, a hairdresser, added: 'It is the rehab with Penny's which knee will determine what happens here.

'Penny has been through a lot and still has six weeks of rehab to go.

'If you saw what she went through on a daily basis, it is a miracle that she even here.

'She fell out of skating for a while. It was incredibly hard. She broke her knee in eight places, had two operations on it and massive amount of physiotherapy.

'After she smashed her knee, she had no knee cap at all. They had to literally piece it together.

'They had to search for the pieces of knee and hold it all in place.

Then she had to gradually begin to bend it.

'It is wonder she is actually walking. So for them to be at the Olympics games after all they have had to endure over the last few year is absolutely fantastic.

'We call her Bionic Woman and he is called Superman.

Buckland, of Nottingham, who began skating at the age of two, underwent a major heart operation after Sochi 2014.

He was found to have an irregular heart beat and had a monitor inserted under his skin before specialists operated.

The pair were not even born when their heroes gold medal winners Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean won their event in Sarajevo in 1984, but Dean choreographed their routine which vowed the judges today at the Gangneung Ice Arena.

Mrs Buckland added: 'The aim was to finish in the top ten, because Penny has been seriously injured. It really is a miracle that she could skate. This is a bonus year.

'I don't think they will medal, I don't think that was ever on the cards. The aim with having the injury was top ten and anything above that is a bonus.

'We just want two really clean skates from them. Lets hope they have another good skate tomorrow…you never know.'

Both skaters were schooled on the skills of Torvill and Dean with their parents showing them videos of their Olympic gold medal routine to Bolero and their dvds. Buckland comes from a family of skaters.

Dean joined the pair at their training base in Colorado and helped them construct their routine which vowed the judges today.

Mrs Buckland added: 'We are extremely proud to see them perform here in Korea and at the Olympics. They have been through a lot and worked so hard. My son's heart operation was the scariest thing.'