One of the main topics at the Winter Olympics is the serious injury to Lindsey Vonn, who suffered a serious fall at the start of the downhill race on Sunday.
Vonn has had three surgeries so far, and the media is reporting on the American skier's condition. Just a few days after the injury, when the third surgery was not yet announced, Reuters reported the forecasts of four doctors who claimed that the American could return to the slopes in about a year.
And now a different prognosis is coming in. French surgeon Dr. Bertrand Sonnery-Colle pointed out that Lindsey Vonn could face lifelong consequences after this injury.
Sonneri-Cole is an orthopedic surgeon at the Lyon Clinic, who has operated on numerous top athletes, and believes that the first goal now is to save the leg, not to think about returning to the track. He doubts that after such an injury it is even possible for Vonn to recover to the point of engaging in top sports again.
He explained that the photo Von posted on her Instagram after her third surgery shows worrying details:
"That huge needle proves that they were unable to completely repair the fracture. It is only a temporary solution. Her injury is very serious and will cause her problems for months, and could have lifelong consequences," he said.
Soneri-Kole said it was not possible for anyone to make any predictions so soon after the injury.
"Either there was a lot of edema or the bone was almost crushed. You find yourself with a puzzle that you have to put together, and it's very complicated."
Soneri-Kole said that her previous injuries probably did not affect the remediation of the new situation, but that her long knee, in which she has a titanium prosthesis, was certainly an additional risk.
"When you fall with a prosthesis, the damage can be enormous. The US Olympic Committee obviously took a huge risk, but she herself must have been aware of that," Soneri-Kole added.
Bonus video:
