After undergoing a torn ACL and five surgeries, Lindsey Vonn, the American skiing Olympian, returned home from the hospital.

The Olympic champion took to Instagram and posted a photo of her legs, revealing the muscle loss she has suffered after the crash at the women's downhill event and after surgeries.

But the 41-year-old Champion continues fighting, and on March 1, with another Instagram post, she informed her fans that she is going to focus on her recovery.

In the post, while relaxing with her dog, Lindsey wrote, “Home sweet home. Feels good to sleep in my own bed…. I'm focused now on therapy and getting healthy. It's going to be a hard and painful journey, but I am putting all of my energy into it, like I always do.”

After the accident at the women's downhill, she had undergone 4 surgeries in Italy and 1 in the US. Apart from that, she recently had a 6-hour-long process to rebuild her leg and to manage an infection.

When asked about her recovery timeframe, Nolan Horner, an orthopedic surgeon, said, “The fact that she's an elite athlete greatly improves her chances of a very good outcome, but she certainly has a long road ahead.”

Well, according to Horner, there was even a life-threatening complication, compartment syndrome. That's when severe trauma results in swelling and pressure inside the muscle compartments of the limb. And while Team USA's doctor prevented that, Vonn lost a big chunk of muscle.

Horner added, “She'll likely have an extended period where she's not even allowed to put weight on that limb, to allow the fracture to heal properly."

But Vonn Is Determined to Return

Lindsey Vonn is known for her resilience. And this time, it's the same. She even added an inspiring message for her fans.

"Life is life and we have to take the punches that come. Going to 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."

The first part of her rehab will be getting some movement to her joint, especially since there's risk of her joints stiffening. Then, there will be the torn ACL that needs to be addressed.

The road back is going to be difficult, but Vonn won't stop.

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Written by

Supradeep Dutta

Edited by

Siddharth Shirwadkar