Plett pioneer of sports injury treatment
Crags resident DrClive Noble was recently honoured for his work in the treatment of sports injuries. An orthopaedic surgeon by profession, Dr Noble has for nigh on 50 years been specialising in the treatment and rehabilitation of injuries arising from participation in all manner of sports.
Much of his work has centred upon the development of treatments to remedy sporting injuries, and recognition of his pioneering work in this field has recently been made by the South African Sports Medicine Association (SASMA), with the inauguration of a Clive Noble Lecture.
The award was bestowed upon Dr Noble at the 14th international conference of SASMA in Johannesburg on October 18.
As a young man, Clive Noble was passionate about sport and excelled in boxing, judo, weightlifting, rugby, tennis and running. Upon qualifying as a surgeon in 1966, he decided to mesh his love of sport with his medical training.
“At that time,” he recalls, “there were no techniques for the rehabilitation of sports injuries.” Over the succeeding decades he worked on injuries most commonly associated with boxing, rugby, cricket, football, running, and tennis, and knee surgery has been the focus of much of his work.
Dr Noble served as consultant on sports injuries to the provincial cricket and rugby teams of what was then called Transvaal, the football teams of Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns, the South African Boxing Board of Control, and the Medical Committee of SA Rugby.
In 1992 he was team doctor to the South African squad participating in the 25th Olympiad in Barcelona, and was match doctor during the Rugby World Cup hosted by South Africa in 1995.
In 1986 Dr Noble took office as the first president of SASMA and in 1988 he published the authoritative Manual of Sports Injuries that ran to five volumes.
Over the years he has treated and operated on some of the world’s best known sports personalities, such as Sachin Tendulkar, Geoffrey Boycott, Billy Beaumont, Björn Borg, Wally Hayward, and Chick Henderson.
“International sports stars are generally very pleasant people,” he says. “They are dedicated to their sport and hard-driven.”
Whilethe good doctor’s professional life was based in Johannesburg, he and his wife Colleen now enjoy the rustic peace of The Crags – although he still does some advisory and consulting work.
CXPRESS congratulates him on the inception of the Clive Noble Lecture, and wishes him health and happiness in the years ahead.
Author: Timothy Twidle
Source: CXpress