Lindsey Vonn’s brutal crash on the Milan downhill course cut short her Olympic dreams. But more than that, it triggered a medical ordeal, requiring her to go through multiple surgeries. Diagnosed with a ‘complex tibia fracture,’ she’s already undergone two procedures, one to stabilize her left leg and another to maintain blood flow. Now comes the update on a third surgery, proving the nightmare is far from over.

On February 11, Lindsey Vonn shared a post on Instagram, detailing, “I had my 3rd surgery today and it was successful. Success today has a completely different meaning than it did a few days ago.”

Vonn further detailed how she is coping with the operation, “I’m making progress and while it is slow, I know I’ll be ok.” 

Vonn’s post clearly revealed the severity of her injury. The images showcased external fixators on her left leg, essentially used to stabilize joints and bones from outside the body.

Since Vonn has suffered a complex tibia fracture, it is normal that she is undergoing more than one surgeries, as such cases mostly demand that. This is because such injuries typically indicates that the bone is shattered or broken in multiple places, as per the Yale Medicine website. Naturally this also means the recovery timeline for it is longer than usual, typically 8 to 11 months.

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But despite going through so much just in the past 48 hours, Vonn remains positive in her outlook, as she expressed gratitude to those by her side.

“Thankful for all of the incredible medical staff, friends, family, who have been by my side and the beautiful outpouring of love and support from people around the world. Also, huge congrats to my teammates and all of the Team USA athletes who are out there inspiring me and giving me something to cheer for ❤️🤍💙,” she added.

Vonn’s crash in Tofane happened with great intensity on Sunday, after her right ski pole clipped in the gate, causing her to lose balance. Her speed on the downhill course made the fall even worse, leaving her to wail in pain. On top of it, she already had an ACL tear in her left leg.

The 41-year-old took her chances, but it didn’t work out on the snow. However, the sportsmanship that resides inside her didn’t die with this crash.

Lindsey Vonn’s message for her fellow Team USA skier

“Tell Breezy congrats and good job,” Lindsey Vonn sent a message to Breezy Johnson, who went on to win the gold medal in the women’s downhill final. And this was shared by her coach, Aksel Lund Svindal.

“Lindsey. You’re incredibly brave. You inspire people that follow your journey and us that work closely with you every day. Yesterday was a tough day on the mountain. For everyone, but most of all for you,” Svindal said, praising the 41-year-old.

“Your teammate was in the lead, and that’s the message you wanted the US skiteam coaches to remember before you got airlifted to the hospital. Real character shows up in the hard moments.”

Just like Vonn was ready with her no. 13 bib, Johnson was with no. 6. And before the terrifying crash, the other American was already in the gold medal contention with a time of 1:36.10. Johnson’s reaction to the crash? She was just heartbroken…

“Her coach said she was cheering for me in the helicopter, so I hope for the best for her. I hope that it’s not too bad. My heart aches for her,” she told the reporters at the Games.

Now, following multiple surgeries, Vonn’s condition seems far from better, and only time will tell how long it will take her to completely recover and if she will ever get back to skiing.