Lindsey Vonn has shared she nearly had her leg amputated after suffering a horror crash at the Winter Olympics, with Cristiano Ronaldo among those sending messages of support
Cristiano Ronaldo has sent a message to Lindsey Vonn after the American skiing legend revealed in an emotional statement that she nearly faced a leg amputation following the severe crash she endured at the Winter Olympics. The 41-year-old was airlifted to hospital after striking a gate merely 13 seconds into the women’s downhill competition.
After being restricted to a hospital bed in Italy, where she underwent four major operations and subsequently a fifth after returning to the United States, she has now disclosed that she could have lost her leg were it not for Dr Tom Hackett. Taking to Instagram on Monday, she shared a video outlining her injuries and described how her leg was saved.
Vonn said: “I had a complex tibia fracture, I also fractured my fibula head and everything was in pieces, and the reason it was so complex was because I had compartment syndrome. Compartment syndrome is when you have so much trauma to one area of your body that there is too much blood and it gets stuck. It basically crushes everything in the compartment – muscles, nerves, tendons, it all kind of, dies. Dr Tom Hackett saved my leg, he saved my leg from being amputated.
READ MORE: Lindsey Vonn shares leg amputation truth as Winter Olympics star says ‘doctor saved me’READ MORE: Winter Olympics star who won gold against the odds was forced to return her medal
“He did what is called a fasciotomy, where he cut open both sides of my leg, let it breathe, and he saved me. I always talk about everything happening for a reason. If I hadn’t torn my ACL, which I would have done anyway in this crash, Tom [Hackett] wouldn’t have been there, he wouldn’t have been able to save my leg. I feel very lucky and grateful for him, for this six-hour surgery he put in to rebuild it, which went amazingly well. 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.
“I was really struggling, the pain was a little bit out of control and I had to have a blood transfusion. That helped me a lot and I turned the corner and now I am out. I am in a wheelchair right now, I am very much immobile, and I will be in a wheelchair for a whilst because I also broke my right ankle. I hope I can be on crutches in a little bit but we will see, and I will probably be on crutches for at least two months. But I’ll get right to work on rehab and see what I can do and take it one step at a time, like I always do.”
Amongst the thousands of supportive messages was one from Portugal and Manchester United icon Ronaldo, who posted a stirring tribute. “Champions are defined by the moments they win, and the moments they refuse to give up,” he wrote beneath the post.
“Lindsey Vonn, the mountains you conquered were never bigger than the strength you carry. Keep fighting. Legends always rise.”
JOIN US ON FACEBOOK! All the best sports news and much more on our dedicated Facebook page
Vonn has undergone multiple operations in Italy before travelling back to the United States where she had an additional procedure. However, after a gruelling fortnight, she has now returned home where she will carry on with her recovery.
“Now I will focus on rehab and progressing from a wheelchair to crutches in a few weeks,” Vonn continued. “It will take around a year for all of the bones to heal and then I will decide if I want to take out all the metal or not, and then go back into surgery and finally fix my ACL.
“It will be a long road but I’ll get there. At least I’m out of the hospital. Love you all.”
Ensure our latest sport headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source. Click here to activate or add us as Preferred Source in your Google search settings.