About me

I am Jodie Hellen a recent graduate from Stella Mann College. I have been studying towards a degree in Performing Arts over the past four years. You may be wondering why this was a four-year course for me rather than the generic three-year course as advertised by the college. This is because I obtained a huge injury during my first year that I didn’t realise would set me back in my training. 

My injury

Injuries are very common in dancers during their training and I soon realised that this can happen at any point. This happened to me in a regular class at college even when I was warmed up correctly! 

When I first injured myself, I went to physiotherapy sessions and was treated for a torn hip flexor and glute muscles. As I continued this treatment it became evident to my physiotherapist that I had done more than just tear the muscle, as the injury appeared to be getting worse no matter how much treatment and rest I was having. I was then advised to see a doctor and request an MRI scan.

After a long process with many delays and cancellations, I learned that I had torn the cartilage in my hip and told I would not dance again! I was absolutely devasted and really believed what the surgeon was saying was true. Well he was wrong! I persevered and was referred to a new surgeon who dealt with rugby players and dancers with hip injuries, specifically the injury that I had. This was amazing news and after just my first meeting with him he told me I would dance again as long as I followed his recovery instructions post-op. After this I was put straight onto his waiting list ready for my first operation.  I had an exploratory operation and was informed I would have to wait again for the final one.

However I was so disappointed to learn that the waiting time for this final operation would be 9 months. I was in a lot of pain and this situation forced me and my family to make the very tough decision to have the operation privately. I had my first private appointment and my operation was booked for the week after.  Yes, you heard that right. My nine-month wait had just gone down to a week with the same surgeon!

This was a really tough time for me and was by no means easy but I found things to keep me busy through all of this to remain positive and focus on the final goal, RECOVERY!

How I remained positive through time off

Obviously through my time off it was so hard to remain positive and I needed lots of things to focus on including my end goal!  I worked to save for a new car. I caught up with old friends. And I went to see shows in London.  All this helped me so much as they were things I could focus on that weren’t dance related that would still make me happy. . 

Deferring my degree

Once I knew that I needed to take a year out, I had to let the university and student finance know that I was deferring a year. There was some form filling but it was an easy process.  All I had to do was phone up and explain that due to medical reasons I needed to defer my year and return again the following September. Easy peasy!  So don’t be afraid of deferring a year as it is definitely the best option when you have a serious injury! 

I know that no one would believe that taking a year out of training would be a good thing, trust me I didn’t either when I first found out it was an option, but now I know that this was the right option for me. It gave me time to concentrate on my complete recovery and I ended up having a full three years of training. 

Medical Insurance

After having my operation and looking at returning to college I decided to take out medical insurance to cover myself in the future. This did require a lot of research into what I could get for my money and what I would actually need. This is something I would recommend to any dancer as you never know when you could need it, even if it is just to check that little niggle you have. If I had this insurance when I first obtained my injury it would have saved me so much time on waiting lists and I may not have needed a full year out of training. 

A lot of people think medical insurance must be so expensive being a dancer. While it isn’t cheap there is a range of prices depending on what you want your insurance to cover. This can range from just basic physiotherapy and specialist fees, right up to MRI scans and surgical procedures. An average price for medical insurance is around £20 per month, but can be cheaper if you opt for less! 

From my personal experience I really can’t recommend medical insurance enough. You never know when something like this could happen and you need medical help quickly. I never in a million years thought I would injure myself the way that I did but it can happen and it’s always wise to be prepared for the worst.   

So, if you are having to take time out of college then know it’s okay, you’ve got this, this is the right thing to do and you can still be happy even when you aren’t dancing, aim for something you’ve always wanted to do and do it! And I’ll say it one more time, you’ve got this!