Rusty Weiss
Olympic legend Lindsey Vonn has revealed she came terrifyingly close to losing her left leg after a devastating crash during the women’s downhill at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.
The American skiing star, speaking to fans via an Instagram video, described the accident as “by far the most extreme and painful and challenging injury” of her career.
Despite competing with a ruptured ACL in Milan, Vonn suffered a complex tibia fracture, a fractured femur head, and a shattered tibia plateau. The brutal accident left “everything… in pieces.”
Doctors airlifted Vonn off the mountain and rushed her into emergency surgery after her accident. She quickly developed compartment syndrome, a condition where massive internal bleeding and swelling crushed her muscles, nerves, and tendons.
“The reason why it was so complex was because I had compartment syndrome. And 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 in the compartment,” Vonn exlained.
“So, all the muscle and nerves and tendons, it all kind of dies.”
🚨 NEW: Lindsey Vonn Says She Is Out of the Hospital After Nearly Losing Her Leg
— Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) February 23, 2026
“Dr. Tom Hackett saved my leg from being amputated … I'll be in a wheelchair for a while because I also broke my right ankle.” pic.twitter.com/hBworc4Ij0
Lindsey Vonn Near Leg Amputation: Olympic Star’s Shocking 2026 Games Ordeal
Renowned surgeon Dr. Tom Hackett performed a fasciotomy, cutting open both sides of her leg to relieve the pressure and prevent amputation. That’s right. He had to act quickly to prevent one of the greatest American skiers of all time from losing her leg.
“Dr. Tom Hackett saved my leg. He saved my leg from being amputated and did what is called a fasciotomy where he cut open both sides of my leg, kind of fileted it open so to speak, let it breathe and he saved me.”
READ MORE:
Vonn underwent a six-hour reconstruction involving numerous plates and screws, lost massive amounts of blood, and required a transfusion to stabilize critically low hemoglobin levels.
“I feel very lucky and grateful for him, the six-hour surgery he put in on Wednesday to rebuild it, which went amazingly well. I was in the hospital longer than I had hoped because I had very low hemoglobin from all the blood loss of all the surgeries,” she continued.
“I was really struggling. The pain was a little bit outta control. I had to have a blood transfusion, and that helped me a lot. I turned the corner, and now I am out,” added Vonn.
Now out of the hospital and in a wheelchair, Vonn says she hopes to move to crutches within weeks but faces at least two months on them and a long rehabilitation road ahead.
“It will be a long road but I’ll get there. At least I’m out of the hospital,” she captioned the video.
Thankful to be out of the hospital 🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/WOYKensxXn
— lindsey vonn (@lindseyvonn) February 23, 2026
As much as we love the puppy pics, let’s hope Lindsey gets back on her feet soon. And back to showing off her incredibly toned physique in a black bikini while enjoying a relaxing dip in a private heated outdoor pool.
More of this, please.