A young kitesurfer from Essex has described how a stabbing sensation, like "barbed wire" in her hip, led to a diagnosis of a serious bone condition and a pioneering operation that has given her back her active life.
From Surfing to Suffering
Georgina Monti, a 30-year-old project coordinator from Benfleet, first felt the discomfort in her right hip while kitesurfing and free-diving in September 2023. Initially dismissing it as an old surfing injury from her teens, she tried to push through the pain.
"It's normal to get a few aches after intense exercise, but this became more intense," Georgina recalled. Her mobility became severely restricted, to the point where she struggled to dismount from horses she was training and found herself barely able to walk. The pain eventually became so excruciating it kept her awake at night and she was unable to tie her own shoes. Forced to abandon all sports and reliant on crutches, she knew something was seriously wrong.
A Shocking Diagnosis and a Search for Hope
In October 2024, an MRI scan delivered the devastating news. Georgina was diagnosed with avascular necrosis, a condition where bone tissue dies due to a lack of blood supply. This had caused her femoral head – the ball part of the hip joint – to collapse.
"I needed to find somebody to fix it, and I kept hearing about hip replacements, which no 30-year-old wants to hear," Georgina said. Faced with the prospect of a total hip replacement, which could have permanently limited her ability to return to high-impact sports, she sought another opinion.
A Groundbreaking Alternative
Georgina found hope at Cleveland Clinic London with consultant orthopaedic surgeon Professor Justin Cobb. He offered her an innovative alternative: a hip resurfacing procedure using a ceramic implant.
Professor Cobb explained the key advantage: "While a great option, a total hip replacement is not the best approach for everyone... it can reduce the amount of exercise a patient can take." The resurfacing technique preserves much more of the patient's natural bone, making it a superior option for active, younger individuals like Georgina.
In August 2025, Georgina underwent the surgery, receiving one of the world's first regulator-approved non-metal resurfacing implants. The results were immediate. "After surgery, Professor Cobb told me everything went great," she said. "Then he lifted my leg and brought my knee toward my chest - something I hadn't been able to do for at least two years."
She is now working diligently with an exercise physiologist seven days a week and is thrilled with her drastic early improvements in mobility. While still in recovery, she is already relishing simple pleasures like walking her dog, Lucy, and is dedicated to returning to the sports she loves.
Georgina's advice to others is clear: "I put off having a scan longer than I should have... But getting it checked out meant I could actually fix the problem. Don't be scared to take that step. There's so much they can do now for hip preservation, and it turned out to be the best possible thing I could have done."
