{"id":611235,"date":"2026-02-23T21:04:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T21:04:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/611235\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T21:04:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T21:04:10","slug":"lindsey-vonn-says-surgery-saved-her-from-losing-leg-following-olympic-crash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/611235\/","title":{"rendered":"Lindsey Vonn says surgery saved her from losing leg following Olympic crash"},"content":{"rendered":"

VAIL, Colo. (AP) \u2014 American skier Lindsey Vonn<\/a> says she nearly lost her left leg following a frightening crash<\/a> in the women\u2019s downhill at the Milan Cortina Olympics<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Vonn shared in an Instagram post<\/a> on Monday that her injuries went far beyond the complex tibia fracture in the leg she initially revealed after clipping a gate and sailing off course just 13 seconds into her run on Feb. 8.<\/p>\n

The 41-year-old Vonn said the trauma from the crash led to compartment syndrome in the leg. Compartment syndrome involves excessive pressure building up inside a muscle, either from bleeding or swelling. High pressure restricts blood flow and can lead to permanent injury if not treated quickly.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you have so much trauma to one area of your body so that there\u2019s too much blood and it gets stuck and it basically crushes everything,\u201d Vonn said.<\/p>\n

Vonn credited Dr. Tom Hackett, an orthopedic surgeon who works for Vonn and Team USA, for conducting a fasciotomy to salvage her leg.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe filleted it open (and) let it breathe, and he saved me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Vonn noted that Hackett was only in Cortina because she was competing after tearing the ACL<\/a> in her left knee shortly before the Olympics. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf I hadn\u2019t had done that, Tom wouldn\u2019t have been there (and he) wouldn\u2019t have been able to save my leg,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Vonn, who said she has been discharged from the hospital, also broke her right ankle in the crash.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has been quite the journey and by far the most extreme and painful and challenging injury I\u2019ve ever faced in my entire life times 100,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Vonn underwent multiple surgeries during a week-long stay at a hospital in Treviso, Italy, following the accident. She credited both Hackett and Italian doctors for their efforts to repair her leg, which she said was \u201cin pieces\u201d following the accident.<\/p>\n

She says she struggled with pain and blood loss in the immediate aftermath and had to receive a transfusion to help raise her hemoglobin levels.<\/p>\n

Vonn, who said she is \u201cvery much immobile,\u201d is confined to a wheelchair at the moment, but has turned her attention to her rehab and is working her way toward being able to use crutches. She estimated it will take about a year for the bones in her left leg to heal. Only after that will doctors be able to go in and repair the torn ACL, which played no role in the crash.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a long road,\u201d she said. \u201cI always fight and we keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vonn stressed she had \u201cno regrets\u201d about her comeback following a six-year retirement or her decision to ski at the Olympics despite the knee injury.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish it had ended differently, but I\u2019d rather go down swinging than not try at all,\u201d said Vonn, who was atop the World Cup series rankings in the downhill when she arrived in Cortina. \u201cI think what I was able to achieve was more than anyone expected to begin with. … This year was incredible and so worth everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

She likened her injuries to \u201cone blip on the radar.\u201d She did not go into any sort of detail about her competitive career, though her father, Alan Kildow, told The Associated Press<\/a> shortly after the accident he would like her to retire.<\/p>\n

\u201cLife is life and we have to take the punches that come,\u201d Vonn said. \u201cGoing to do the best I can with this one. It really knocked me down. But I\u2019m like Rocky. I\u2019ll just keep getting back up.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP Winter Olympics: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics<\/a><\/p>\n