Lindsey Vonn’s horrific leg injury was even more serious than originally realized.
The American skier said surgery saved her left leg from being amputated after she crashed during her downhill race on Feb. 8 at the Milano Cortina Olympics.
The complicated injury left Vonn with compartment syndrome in her leg, she said Monday in a four-minute Instagram video.
“Compartment syndrome is when you have so much trauma to one area of your body that there’s too much blood, and it gets stuck and it basically crushes everything,” Vonn said.
The condition required Team USA physician Dr. Tom Hackett to perform a fasciotomy in which he “filleted” Vonn’s leg open and “let it breathe,” she said.
Hackett had made the trip to Italy only because Vonn was attempting to compete on a torn ACL in her left knee — an injury she suffered days earlier when she crashed during her final Olympic warmup race.
“If I hadn’t torn my ACL, Tom wouldn’t have been there,” Vonn said Monday. “He wouldn’t have been there to save my leg.”
The Olympic crash left Vonn with a complex tibia fracture, as well as a broken right ankle that she revealed Monday.
After spending nearly two weeks in the hospital, Vonn moved to a hotel but is still unable to go home.
“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,” Vonn said.
Vonn, 41, is a three-time Olympic medalist, including winning gold in the downhill at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver.
She retired after the 2018 Olympics, but following multiple surgeries — including a partial knee replacement — Vonn made a surprise return to skiing in 2024.
This year’s Winter Games marked Vonn’s fifth trip to the Olympics. During Monday’s video, Vonn was moved to tears as she reflected on her comeback coming up short.
“I’ll be in a wheelchair for a while,” Vonn said, adding, “I hope I can be on crutches in a little bit, but we’ll see. … But I’m gonna get right to work on rehab and see what I can do, and take it one step at a time.”
American teammate Breezy Johnson won the downhill event after Vonn’s crash. That was one of 12 gold medals won by Team USA.
“Watching Team USA dominate has been really uplifting,” Vonn said.
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