American ski racer Lindsey Vonn, 41, has revealed that she came perilously close to requiring a leg amputation following a crash during the women’s downhill event at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics. The athlete shared details of her harrowing experience and the life-saving surgery she underwent in a recent social media post and subsequent interviews.
Vonn’s ordeal began just 13 seconds into her downhill run when she clipped a gate and lost control. While initially reported as a complex tibia fracture, the extent of her injuries proved far more severe. The crash triggered a condition known as compartment syndrome in her left leg, a potentially devastating complication that threatened the limb’s viability.
Understanding Compartment Syndrome
Compartment syndrome occurs when pressure builds up within a confined muscle compartment – a space within the body separated by fascia, a tough connective tissue. This pressure can arise from bleeding or swelling following a fracture or other trauma. As the pressure increases, it restricts blood flow to the muscles and nerves within the compartment. If left untreated, this can lead to tissue damage, nerve dysfunction and the need for amputation.
“When you have so much trauma to one area of your body so that there’s too much blood and it gets stuck and it basically crushes everything,” Vonn explained in her Instagram post. “All the muscle and nerves and tendons, it all kind of dies.”
A Life-Saving Intervention
Dr. Tom Hackett, an orthopedic surgeon and team physician for the U.S. Snowboard Team, is credited with saving Vonn’s leg. He performed a fasciotomy, a surgical procedure designed to relieve the pressure within the affected compartment. The procedure involves making incisions in the fascia to create more space and allow for swelling to subside, restoring blood flow.
“He cut open both sides of my leg, kind of filleted it open, so to speak, (to) let it breathe,” Vonn described. “And Dr. Tom Hackett saved my leg.”
The urgency of Dr. Hackett’s presence was, remarkably, linked to a prior injury. Vonn tore her ACL in her left knee shortly before the Olympics. Had she not been competing despite this injury, Dr. Hackett would not have been in Cortina d’Ampezzo and may not have been immediately available to perform the critical surgery.
Additional Injuries and Recovery
The tibia fracture was not Vonn’s only injury sustained in the crash. She also broke her right ankle and required a blood transfusion. She spent nearly two weeks hospitalized in Treviso, Italy, undergoing multiple surgeries to address the extent of the damage. Vonn described the experience as “quite the journey and by far the most extreme and painful and challenging injury I’ve ever faced in my entire life times 100.”
As of , Vonn has been discharged from the hospital and is now recovering in a hotel. She anticipates a lengthy rehabilitation process, initially requiring the use of a wheelchair, followed by crutches in a few weeks. The complete healing of her bones is expected to take approximately one year, after which she may consider further surgery to address the metal hardware used in the repairs and potentially reconstruct her ACL.
Looking Ahead
Despite the severity of her injuries and the challenging road to recovery, Vonn remains optimistic. She expressed gratitude for the care she received from both Dr. Hackett and the Italian medical team. “It’s going to be a long road, but I always fight,” she stated. “I will move forward, without regrets.”
This incident underscores the significant risks inherent in high-speed sports like downhill skiing and the importance of prompt medical intervention in cases of traumatic injury. Compartment syndrome, while relatively rare, is a serious condition that requires immediate recognition and treatment to prevent long-term disability or amputation.
