Do you ever think much about your knees? Well, Taragh Loughrey-Grant didn’t – until one of them was being cut open.
What began as an unfortunate incident in a bootcamp exercise class ended with an exploration of the humble knee. What Taragh Loughrey-Grant discovered en route, is that there is nothing humble about it.
As a baby says its first “hellos” in the womb, it's the knees that signal the first sign of life. Nature has a chance to show her kinder side as the knees stay soft until the toddler-tumbles end, only hardening from age three.
Knees are used for worship in many religions, in many different ways – like the Catholic act of 'genuflection’ (fine unless you're like a priest Taragh met, with bad knees.)
As well as being used to worship, knees themselves are worshipped, by fetishists, who achieve enormous heights of sensual pleasure from these joints – “poetry in motion" says one.
We find out who owns the Three Most Famous Irish Knees.
The knees play their part in movies: from “The Karate Kid" to the French cult classic from 1970, “Claire's Knee".
Of course, knees are the subject of many popular songs – the best of which you'll hear here!
The perfect knee is described and we learn now none of the world's top models would be super without them. Plus an Irishman created one of the most famous knee replacement methods in the world and we go right into the operating theatre to witness surgeon Gary O'Toole put Taragh's left knee back together.
Perhaps best of all, Taragh finds out that she would not be Taragh without her mother's knees.
You've got to hand it to them, there's a lot more to the knee than a few knobbly bits.
Listen now on Documentary on One : My Left Knee.
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