Olympic legends Sir Chris Hoy and Lindsey Vonn have both suffered devastating broken legs recently
Sir Chris Hoy has sent a message of support to fellow broken leg victim Lindsey Vonn.
The skiing legend came close to losing a limb after her horrifying crash at the Winter Olympics. Vonn broke her leg in a fall during the women’s downhill race on February 8 and has undergone multiple operations since.
She described the injury as “by far the most extreme, painful and challenging” she has ever had, adding that “everything was in pieces.”
The 41-year-old said she had compartment syndrome and credited Dr Tom Hackett for saving her leg through a fasciotomy. She said in an Instagram post: “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, it basically crushes everything in the compartment.
“All the muscle and nerves and tendons, it all kind of dies. Doctor Tom Hackett saved my leg. He saved my leg from being amputated. He did what’s called a fasciotomy, where he cut open both sides of my leg, let it breathe and he saved me.”
Hoy knows all about compartment syndrome, having suffered a badly broken leg in a cycling crash last year. The six-time Olympic champion has continued to ride his bike while undergoing treatment for prostate cancer.
Speaking on his Sporting Midadventures podcast, he said: “Looking at all her fractures, the X-rays and the media coverage, it’s a very similar injury [to his], a tibia plateau fracture.
“I was looking at the metal work. To be fair, her plates were a little bit further down than mine, so she’s outdone me on that one!
“The doctors tell you that because compartment syndrome is the risk, there is a risk of amputation for anyone in that situation and I was given the same warning. That’s one of the things they’re hyper-vigilant about.
“She’s right in the thick of it [recovery] now and my thoughts are with her and with anyone else with an injury like that because it’s not much fun.”
Vonn, who entered the Olympics having ruptured her ACL in the build-up, also suffered a broken ankle and needed a blood transfusion due to the blood loss from her surgeries.
On how he’s recovering from his own crash, which he described as the worst of his life, Hoy added: “I’ve got a slight limp but on the bike, it’s the least painful, so I’m back doing two-and-a-half-hour rides.”
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