Links can and do restore and repair, and they can reroute themselves if there’s another connection close by. In fact I posted a video on just that back in March here 
Just click on the blue title and it will take you there. It’s amazing what the brain can recover if given enough time and lots of input from their human…so get working on it 
It does take time, and I don’t know how long, those video clips are speeded up for the purpose of the video obviously. But I think it’s in terms of years rather than months, if it is going to happen. Clearly many years in your case with your foot.