Runner’s Foot Rejects Implanted Carbon Plate
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A local runner’s body has rejected a carbon plate surgically implanted in his foot, Dumb Runner has learned, in a setback that doctors are calling “disappointing, but not surprising.”
Frank Hursley, 52, a veteran of 12 marathons, volunteered for the surgery last year. The procedure, which involved inserting a “super shoe”-style carbon plate directly into the foot, was a first for the medical community.
Surgeons implanted the plate earlier this month, with no apparent complications; however, after several days of watchful waiting, it became clear that Hursley’s body was rejecting the plate. Yesterday, in a procedure lasting about an hour, they removed it.
“This is a setback, no question,” said Bridget Dobson, M.D., the lead surgeon. “But we are determined to learn from this and to try again.”
Carbon plates began appearing in running shoes around 2016, and quickly became popular among distance runners hoping to shave seconds or even minutes from their race times. The idea of bypassing shoes and adding such plates directly to human feet came about much more recently and, as Hursley’s case shows, is still in its infancy.
“The advantages [of implanting plates in human feet] are obvious,” said Dr. Dobson. “Rather than spend hundreds of dollars on super shoes two or three times a year, you could add durable and lasting super-shoe technology directly to the foot, and just use normal, and much more affordable, running shoes.”
“Once we get this procedure right,” she said, “it will transform not just the running shoe industry, but the very idea of human potential.”
Hursley himself remains optimistic as well.
“Advances like this one always take time,” he said. “It’s trial and error.”
“I had an incredible team of doctors, and I’m confident that they’ll succeed sooner or later,” he added. “Until then, I’ll just have to settle for spending 300 bucks a pair for my shoes, like everyone else.”
