Lindsey Vonn has revealed that she came close to having her leg amputated after her crash during the Olympic downhill earlier this month. The 41-year-old American sustained a complex tibia fracture to her left leg and underwent multiple surgeries in Italy before being flown back to the US for further treatment.
In an Instagram post on Monday, Vonn said the crash also led to compartment syndrome, a condition in which excessive pressure around muscles restricts blood flow, potentially causing permanent damage. She described the sensation as having "too much blood and it gets stuck and it basically crushes everything."
Vonn credited Dr Tom Hackett, an orthopaedic surgeon who works with Team USA, with saving her leg. She said he "filleted it open and let it breathe," adding that Hackett was only in Italy because he had been monitoring her recovery from an ACL tear sustained before the Games. "If I hadn't had done that, Tom wouldn't have been there and wouldn't have been able to save my leg," she wrote.
The skier also revealed she has left hospital for the first time since the crash, though she is not yet home. "After almost 2 weeks of laying in a hospital bed almost completely immobile, I'm finally well enough to move to a hotel. It's not home yet, but it's a huge step!" she said.
Vonn, who also broke her ankle in the crash, said it will take around a year for her bones to heal. She will then decide whether to have metalwork removed before undergoing surgery to fix her ACL. Despite the ordeal, she said she has no regrets about competing, writing: "I showed up and did what most thought was impossible at my age with a partial knee replacement. These memories I'll have forever and I'm grateful for every one of them. Every moment was amazing. Every moment was worth it."
