Lindsey Vonn he still has a long road to recovery ahead of him following his dramatic crash at the 2026 Winter Olympics – but things were about to get worse.
After multiple surgeries in Italy to repair extensive damage to her left leg, Vonn, 41, woke up in the middle of the night in the ICU screaming in pain as her leg would not stop swelling.
“It’s getting worse, and he’s not responding to large amounts of fentanyl, morphine, oxycodone, like every narcotic you can think of,” Dr Tom Hacketthead physician for Team USA Ski and Snowboard, recalled Vanity Fair Cover story published on Thursday, March 26.
Hackett could tell Vonn was suffering from compartment syndrome, a condition where pressure builds up in the leg, restricting blood flow and causing severe nerve damage.
“I’m sure you’ve seen hot dogs or brats on the grill. They start to swell. Then all of a sudden, they explode. They crack. That’s basically what happens with compartment syndrome,” Hackett explained. “There was a big chance that he would lose all the function of his leg, if not the leg itself. The best case scenario in those cases is, you might save your leg, but it won’t help.”
Vonn blacked out from the pain but woke up before surgery.
“Dr. Hackett was on my left. There was a crowd of doctors and nurses around me,” he recalled. He said, ‘Don’t worry, I will save your leg. I got this. I’m in the middle.’
Vonn was put under anesthesia, and Hackett performed a fasciotomy, cutting the connective tissue and surrounding tissue to relieve the pressure.
After the first surgery, Vonn was forced to undergo multiple procedures to complete the operation.
“It was about trying to save his skin and muscles, basically,” Hackett explained.
Now back home in the United States, Vonn reflected on the chaos of getting to the hospital following her crash – which completely tore her ACL – and the CT scan she’ll never forget.
“In the middle, I started sweating,” he said Vanity Fair. “I was in so much pain, I shouted loudly: ‘Get me out.’.‘ It just wouldn’t fall apart. It did not agree. It’s burned into my mind.”
As for what comes next, Vonn hasn’t completely closed the door on her return to the ice.
“I don’t know what my life will be like in two or three or four years,” he said. I might have had two children by then. I will not have children and want to run again. I can live in Europe. I can do anything.
Vonn added, “It’s hard to say with this injury. It’s very sad. I feel like that was the last bad run to end my career.”
