It took surgeries and weeks of waiting periods to finally see Lindsey Vonn released from the hospital. The skiing icon, who crashed horrifically during her downhill event at the Milan Olympics, endured severe medical procedures, leaving her facing a long and painful road to recovery. On home soil, she spoke through tears, revealing how she was saved from lifelong disability.

In an emotional, lengthy Instagram update, Vonn offered insight into the gruesome reality of her injury, explaining that what appeared to be a compound fracture was merely the surface of a life-threatening condition. “Basically, I had a complex tibia fracture. I also fractured my fibular head, my tibial plateau, just kind of everything was in pieces, and the reason why it was so complex was because I had compartment syndrome,” she said.

Compartment syndrome is a condition where traumatic swelling cuts off blood flow, effectively strangling muscles and nerves from the inside. And this is where Dr. Tom Hackett came as the lifesaver for Vonn.

“So all the muscle and nerves and tendons, it all kind of dies and Dr. Tom Hackett saved my leg. He saved my leg from being amputated. He did what’s called a fasciotomy, where he cut open like both sides of my leg, kind of filleted open, so to speak, let it breathe, and um, he saved me,” she said, with her gratitude more than visible through her tears.

In a twist of fate, the American skier views herself as fortunate. Vonn noted that if she hadn’t torn her ACL in the weeks leading up to the Games, Dr. Hackett wouldn’t have been present. “He wouldn’t have been able to save my leg. So I feel very lucky and grateful for him for the six-hour surgery he put in on Wednesday to rebuild it, which went amazingly well,” she confessed.

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However, the procedure wasn’t easy. She described the brutal physiological battle, stating, “I had a very low hemoglobin from all the blood loss of all the surgeries. I was really struggling. Pain was a little bit out of control and I had a blood transfusion and that helped me a lot.”

Now, she is home but faces a difficult journey, confined to a wheelchair with a broken ankle. Lindsey Vonn is already focused on her recovery, as she stated, “So I hope I can be on crutches in a little bit, but we’ll see, and probably at least be on crutches for two months. But I’m gonna get right to work on rehab and see what I can do and take it one step at a time like I always do. But it’s been I can’t tell you how painful it’s been.”

True to her champion’s spirit, Vonn’s message was not one of defeat but of gritty acceptance. She also watched Team USA succeed in Milan with a total of 33 (12 gold, 12 silver, 9 bronze), and she said it was “really inspiring to watch” her teammates.

Competing with a torn ACL, she knew the consequences, yet that didn’t deter her from competition. And despite suffering this gruesome injury, she still has “no regrets” and “appreciates all the love and support.” The 41-year-old ended the note, writing, “So I’m gonna do the best I can with this one. It really knocked me down, but I’m like Rocky. I’ll just keep getting back up. I love you guys. Thank you.”

And the skier has had a stern mentality even before she arrived in Milan for the Winter Games.

Lindsey Vonn’s resilience is on another level

Lindsey Vonn went to the Milan Olympics with a torn ACL. She sustained that injury during a World Cup in Crans-Montana, Switzerland. And such an injury takes around nine months to rehab. But for the 41-year-old, she didn’t have time for recovery.

The 25th edition of the Winter Games was set to be a final chance for Vonn to chase that gold medal. However, it took only 13 seconds to end it all. Her right arm hooked inside the gate, which caused her to tumble mid-air and crash on the Olympia delle Tofane downhill course.

Screaming in pain, she was airlifted and put under extensive medical care. Her words? “Yesterday, my Olympic dream did not finish the way I dreamt it would. It wasn’t a storybook ending or a fairy tale; it was just life. Unfortunately, I sustained a complex tibia fracture that is currently stable but will require multiple surgeries to fix properly. While yesterday did not end the way I had hoped, and despite the intense physical pain it caused, I have no regrets.”

This was the very first social media post following the crash, and it already showcased her state of mind despite sustaining life-threatening injuries. “I tried. I dreamt. I jumped,” she wrote.

Now, out of the hospital, Vonn will look forward to a smooth recovery.