Vonn: “The doctor saved my leg from amputation”

Around two weeks after her serious fall at the Winter Olympics, Lindsey Vonn spoke out in an Instagram video and spoke in detail about the past few days. “It was a long road, the most extreme and painful injury I’ve had in my entire life. They cut both sides of the leg like a fillet to let it breathe. The doctor saved my leg from amputation. He saved me,” said the 41-year-old.

The skier suffered a complex shin injury when she fell on the Cortina d’Ampezzo descent. After her hospital stay in Italy, Vonn was taken to the airport by ambulance and flown to the USA. “After nearly two weeks of lying in a hospital bed almost completely immobile, I’m finally well enough to move into a hotel,” Vonn captioned her video.

For the first time, the American spoke in detail about the injuries she suffered in the accident. “I had a complex tibia fracture, including the tibial plateau. Everything was shattered,” said Vonn. She also suffered from compartment syndrome. “That means I had so much trauma in that area of ​​the body – there’s too much blood in that area and it gets stuck and more or less crushes everything there. Muscles, nerves, everything dies.”

One operation alone took six hours. “I was in the hospital longer than I would have hoped because I had very low hemoglobin levels from all the surgeries and all the blood loss. I was really struggling, the pain was out of control. I had a blood transfusion, that helped. I got over the curve,” Vonn continued.

Vonn speaks of a year of recovery

Of all things, an old injury could have been decisive. “I always say that everything in life has a meaning. If I hadn’t torn my cruciate ligament shortly before the Olympics, Tom (her doctor) wouldn’t have been there. And then he wouldn’t have been able to save my life, so I’m very grateful for that,” says Vonn.

She now wants to concentrate fully on her rehabilitation. In a few weeks, Vonn plans to transition from a wheelchair to crutches. “It will take about a year until all the bones have healed,” explained the 2010 Olympic champion. She then wants to decide whether the inserted metal parts should be completely removed. Only then is the final repair of her cruciate ligament planned in another operation.

Vonn tore his cruciate ligament in the World Cup race immediately before the Winter Games. Nevertheless, the two-time world champion competed in Italy. She began her comeback at the end of 2024 – with the goal of winning downhill gold at the Winter Games in Italy.