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There was a time when the general public took little heed of celebrity personal injury. It was a time-gone-by when news really was news and adults were the only ones who tuned in for the six o'clock buletin or read the papers to find out about world affairs and the political climate of the day.
Kids were fixated by the Wombles and were probably more likely to want to emulate Orinoco than any human star.
Now, it appears that people of all ages cannot do without knowing the ins and outs of the rich and famous. They relish the site of a female celebrity (and I use the term loosely here) who has forgotten to shave her armpits, or the pop star who has left the house, the morning after a heavy night, without applying make-up. They yearn for reportage of male film icons caught in awkward situations with female "friends" whilst their wife was at home looking after their new baby.
Celebrity news rules in the world of mass-media and it appears we cannot get enough of it.
However, unbelievably, this love of celebrity minutiae has in some small way served to educate us.
It is doubtful that a few years ago many of us knew what a metatarsal or a cruciate ligament was, but now, due to celebrity personal injury news, we have been enlightened. When the likes of George Best and Bobby Charlton were hurt, anxious fans were told merely that they had a knee injury or a broken foot. Now we get the whole medical dictionary thrown at us.
And who said they were dumbing down?
The public knew very quickly that when Michael Owen collapsed dramatically to all fours in the 2006 World Cup game against Sweden, he had suffered a severe rupture of his anterior cruciate knee ligament.
The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) runs from the outside of the back of your thigh bone to the inside front (anterior) of your shin bone. Cruciate refers to the fact that the two ligaments (anterior and posterior) cross over each other. The ACL crosses in front of the posterior (running from the inside of the thigh bone to the back of the shin bone) cruciate ligament. Together these two ligaments stabilise front to back movements of the knee.
So, now you know.
And with the likes of David Beckham, Wayne Rooney, Ashley Cole and Steven Gerrard sustaining foot injuries in recent years, the sports journalists had to give the sports hungry public more information than just, "He's got a broken toe." So now, most of us are aware that a toe is made up of a plethora of small bones known as metatarsals and phalanges; and the really keen football fan will probably be able to tell you which metatarsal was injured in each footballer's case.
The second, third and fourth metatarsals (the three middle toes) are the most commonly fractured in football injuries, usually a result of a player mis-kicking the ground or an opponent's boot; or, sometimes in more sinister circumstances, when an opposing player steps on the foot of the other player. If this is a deliberate action the injured player may well be able to make a compensation claim for deliberate personal injury.
Somehow, this kind of sports injury reporting is probably OK, although the cynic in me believes that this information was sought and reproduced only because reporters and readers alike were bored of fuzzy reports, and the journos suddenly realised that the gruesome gory details in all their explicitness was really what sports fans wanted. Hence also, pictures of haggard looking starlets and stories of failing celebrity marriage. I find it sad.
Still, that's my opinion, and well, personally I'm thankful I know a bit more about my knees and toes in relation to any ensuing personal injury. But as for the armpits, well I'd rather not know.
