Doesn’t Ladysmith man Steve Howe know it – he’s spent the better part of five years trying to straighten them out.

Easygoing and unassuming, you’d be forgiven for thinking everything was OK, but underneath his warm personality lies the struggle – born from the cruelest of circumstances – that ended his career and took him to the lowest depths.

As a paramedic, Mr Howe had been no stranger to danger, but it was one misstep inside the station that opened a can of worms.

“I hyper-extended my right knee, had a bit of pain, didn’t really worry about it,” he said.

“Went out and did a triple-0 call … the next thing I knew I ended up in the bed next to the patient I took into hospital. I never made it back on the road since then.”

For years, Mr Howe has tried to “piece himself back together”.

He’s come through countless surgeries, a double knee replacement, a bout of depression and a lost passion – his job.

“I didn’t think that what I did would stop me from going to work as a paramedic, a job and a career that I absolutely loved,” Mr Howe said.

“I thought ‘she’ll be right, she’ll be right’.”

But his doctors broke the heartbreaking news.

“I was devastated,” Mr Howe said. 

“Everything goes through your head. You think ‘why me, why me?’”

The 42-year-old has endured a long road to recovery, but the road is finally looking a lot easier.

In two weeks, Mr Howe will mark six months since his knee replacements – and he’s never felt better.

He’s even nominated his physiotherapist and lifelong mate,  Paul Heffernan, for an award in the Australian Physiotherapy Association’s “I Love My Physio” campaign.

The campaign aims to reward the progress made by physiotherapists and their patients across the country.

Mr Heffernan said the best part of his job was seeing recovery.

 “It’s good to have the feedback that you are making an impact in someone’s recovery and life,” he said.

“There are times when you are in pain and you can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel.

“The physio is often the patient’s first point of contact … the first person to bounce ideas off or provide the pep up when they need it.”

Mr Howe said his children were also a guiding light.

“Once I realised I was never going to be an ambo again, the next thing was wanting to do things with my kids, and I’m on my way to doing that now,” he said.

“Everything is finally coming together.”