A footballer who claimed his career came to a “premature end” through an unnecessary procedure has won a legal challenge against his surgeon at the High Court.
Ex-Wolves striker Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, 39, broke his left leg against Birmingham City in 2013.
He claimed that during an operation, Prof James Calder cleaned out the joint and removed some cartilage, which “gave rise to inflammation”, and sped up the development of osteoarthritis in his ankle.
The surgeon denied the claims, but Mrs Justice Lambert found the arthroscopy, contributed towards a decline in health and announced the amount of damages to be paid will assessed at a future hearing.
Ebanks-Blake stated Prof Calder failed to properly tell him the risks associated with the procedure.
The surgeon denied this and said that if anything, the treatment prolonged the player’s career, as he continued playing for a further six years before retiring in 2019.
Mrs Justice Lambert stated on Thursday: “I am satisfied on balance that, but for the arthroscopy, the claimant would have returned to his pre-accident pain-free state.”
Ebanks-Blake began his career for Manchester United’s youth academy and made his first-team debut in 2004.
A year later, he suffered an injury to his lower left leg.
In 2008, he signed for Wolves and his five-year spell at Molineux came to an end after the collision with Birmingham defender Paul Robinson in April 2013.
Ebanks-Blake said in a witness statement to the court Robinson’s full body weight had landed on the lower part of his left leg, where he had received the previous injury.
He believed the damage was only to his ligament and he drove home, but an MRI scan revealed a fracture.
After seeing Prof Calder, he underwent the ankle surgery that led to further complications.
He left Wolves that summer and made a further 71 appearances in the professional leagues after spells at Ipswich Town, Preston North End, Shrewsbury Town and Chesterfield.
In July this year, Simeon Maskrey KC, representing Ebanks-Blake, told the court: “The onset of symptoms and the development and acceleration of osteoarthritis brought the claimant’s footballing career to a premature end.”
Prof Calder said the injuries were significant and it would have been negligent not to have performed the surgery.
But Mrs Justice Lambert said Ebanks-Blake had suffered a “modest acute ankle fracture only”.
She added: “Taking all of these factors into account, I am satisfied that the decision to undertake arthroscopy, and the other procedures, was neither reasonable nor logical.”
