Lindsey Vonn reveals near amputation following Winter Olympics crash
Lindsey Vonn has disclosed that she came perilously close to losing her left leg following her devastating crash at the Winter Olympics downhill event in Cortina d’Ampezzo a fortnight ago, reports BritPanorama.
The 41-year-old American skiing legend shared the harrowing details in an Instagram video posted on Monday, revealing the true severity of her injuries. Vonn explained that she developed compartment syndrome, a serious condition where excessive trauma causes blood to accumulate in one area of the body.
“It basically crushes everything in the compartment – muscles, nerves, tendons, it all dies,” she said.
Just 13 seconds into her run on 8 February, Vonn, widely regarded as the second most successful female World Cup skier in history, suffered the accident. Dr. Tom Hackett, an orthopaedic surgeon working for Team USA, performed an emergency fasciotomy to address the life-threatening complication. “He did what is called a fasciotomy, where he cut open both sides of my leg, let it breathe, and he saved me,” Vonn explained.
The procedure was followed by a six-hour reconstructive operation, which Vonn described as having gone “amazingly well.” However, her hospital stay extended beyond initial expectations due to complications from significant blood loss during her multiple surgeries. “I was in the hospital a little longer than I hoped because I had very low haemoglobin from the blood loss from all the surgeries,” she revealed. “I was really struggling, the pain was a little bit out of control and I had to have a blood transfusion.” The transfusion proved to be a turning point in her recovery.
After nearly a fortnight confined to a hospital bed with extremely limited mobility, Vonn has now been transferred to a hotel. “It’s not home yet, but it’s a huge step!” she wrote on Instagram. Currently relying on a wheelchair for mobility, the skiing star also faces the added challenge of a broken right ankle sustained alongside her leg injuries. She anticipates transitioning to crutches in the coming weeks, though she expects to depend on them for at least two months.
The full healing process for her fractured bones is expected to take approximately twelve months. Following this period, Vonn will need to decide whether to undergo additional surgery to remove the metal hardware from her leg, after which she would finally address her torn ACL.
Despite the ordeal, Vonn expressed no regrets about her comeback attempt after six years away from competitive skiing. “I wish it had ended differently, but I’d rather go down swinging than not try at all,” she said.
In a world where athletes often push the limits, Vonn’s experience serves as a stark reminder of the thin line between ambition and safety, a lesson many in sport would do well to consider.
