Lindsey Vonn hopes this surgery will be her last.
Vonn released a video Monday, Nov. 9, saying she was having surgery to remove the plates and hardware needed to repair her left leg after a horrific crash in the Olympic downhill, and to fix her torn ACL from an earlier accident. It's her ninth surgery since the Feb. 8 crash at the Milano Cortina Olympics.
"I’ve been nervous and anxious about it … but at the same time excited to hopefully put this behind me," Vonn wrote in the caption for the video. "This will be my 9th surgery and I’m praying my last. There are still things that could change in surgery so we will have to wait and see how it goes."
Vonn suffered a compound fracture and tibial plateau fracture in her left leg, as well as a broken
right ankle. She also needed a fasciotomy to save her left leg after developing compartment syndrome.
Vonn told USA TODAY Sports in September she was apprehensive about this surgery because it means another long recovery. She had recovered well enough from the crash to resume doing normal activities, including playing tennis, and now she would have to start over.
But she knew it had to be done because she couldn't live the rest of her life with all that hardware in her leg, and she needed an ACL. Once this surgery is done, it'll be another six to nine months of recovery.
"Fingers crossed," Vonn said. "Today's going to be a big day but I have my friends and family around me. Everything is going to go great. But of course I always appreciate your support."
Vonn doesn't know yet what her future in skiing will be, saying she needed to get through this last surgery first before she makes any decisions.
"There's a lot of unanswered questions that I have in my mind and I'm still trying to process everything,” Vonn told USA TODAY Sports. “I don't want to close the door on racing. I think I have to be 100%, and I want to get back on the mountain before I can make that judgment.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lindsey Vonn has ninth, and she hopes final, surgery after Olympic crash
