Mark Nugent didn't think anything of it when he went to jump over a chain link fence while he was walking out of some woods. As an avid outdoorsman, he was used to leaping over things, so it was a surprise when he miscalculated the fence and landed with one of his knees smashing hard against the concrete sidewalk.

"At first my knee wasn't hurting too badly. I thought I was okay," Mark said," but then when I went to stand on my own, it was excruciating pain. By the time I got to the hospital it had ballooned. I was sweating and shaking, and nervous as hell."

Doctors at the QEII knew right away that he had seriously damage his knee.  An x-ray revealed he had fractured his knee cap, but they weren't able to put a cast on it for a couple of weeks because it was so swollen. After his cast was successfully placed and then later removed, Mark had an MRI, which revealed he had torn three areas of his knee: ACL, MCL and meniscus.

"It was busted. There was so much destroyed that my knee felt really wobbly. It's hard to explain, but you feel like it's going to let go on you all the time."

Mark had to wait for his knee to heal, as best it could, before surgery. During this time, he was able to work a bit around his office at Nova Scotia Power, but mostly he had to keep his level of physical activity low - something that Mark says was hard for him to do.

"I became the king of TV documentaries. I don't know how many of those I watched. It was starting to drive me crazy."

In February, Mark had his surgery. This was followed by three months of physiotherapy. He still has some discomfort and needs to wear a knee brace, but for the most part he's able to do everything he could before the accident, including golfing and enjoying the outdoors.. He's even taken up a new physically demanding hobby, kite boarding, which, he says, has become his passion.

"Kite boarding is awesome. It's really hard, but you get such an adrenalin rush from it. I'm really glad I'm able to do it," he said.

Mark was impressed with the skill of his surgeons and how well his knee functions today, he said.

"They did a great job on it. They totally reconstructed my knee and you can barely see the scars. They say I will likely have to get a new, prosthetic knee in five to seven years, but I think the old one is going to last longer. I'm keeping positive."