Lindsey Vonn thanks doctor she says saved her leg from amputation after Olympics crash
Five-time Olympian Lindsey Vonn says she has been discharged from the hospital following a major crash at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.
"Well, guys, after two weeks, I finally made it out of the hospital. It has been quite the journey, and by far the most extreme and painful and challenging injury I've ever faced in my entire life, times 100," Vonn said in an Instagram reel Monday.
The decorated skier suffered back-to-back injuries in the last month. Vonn tore the anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, in her left knee on Jan. 30 at a World Cup race in Switzerland. On Feb. 8, at the Milan Cortina Games, she crashed about 13 seconds after starting the women's downhill ski event, one of her specialties, on the Olympia delle Tofane slope in Cortina d'Ampezzo.
Following her Olympics crash, Vonn was airlifted by helicopter from the course to an Italian hospital. In the last week, the 41-year-old documented her return home as she flew from Italy back to the U.S. and was transferred by ambulance to another hospital.
Vonn discussed her injuries in her new video on Monday, saying she had a complex tibia fracture, fibular head fracture, tibial plateau fracture, and compartment syndrome in her leg.
She said she underwent a six-hour surgery, including a fasciotomy, on Wednesday, and credited her doctor for saving her leg from amputation.
"Everything happens for a reason, but if I hadn't torn my ACL -- which I would have torn anyways with this crash -- if I hadn't done that, [orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Tom Hackett] wouldn't have been there. He wouldn't have been able to save my leg," said Vonn. "So I feel very lucky and grateful for him, for the six-hour surgery he put in on Wednesday to rebuild it, which went amazingly well."
Vonn said her recent injuries and treatment have come with a great deal of pain.
"I was really struggling. Pain was a little bit out of control, and I had a blood transfusion, and that helped me a lot," she said, adding that "it was definitely not the way I wanted to end my Olympics."
Despite it all, Vonn doubled down on her decision to compete in the Olympics on a torn ACL.
"I'd rather go down swinging than not try at all. And I think what I was able to achieve was more than anyone expected to begin with," Vonn said, adding that it was "so worth it" and calling this latest setback a "blip on the radar."
Vonn said for now, she is still "immobile" and using a wheelchair but vowed to continue her "long road" to recovery.
"I'm gonna do the best I can with this one. It really knocked me down, but I'm like Rocky. I'll just keep getting back up," she added.
