After an unfortunate accident at a World Cup giant slalom competition in Vermont earlier this month, Mikaela Shiffrin has not scheduled her return date to the sport.
In an attempt to win her 100th World Cup, the three-time Olympic winner suffered severe injuries in a dramatic crash. She needed emergency care and surgery after crashing into a gate at high speed. Fortunately, she was permitted to go back to her Colorado home to recuperate.
Recently, she went back to the hospital to deal with some torn muscles surrounding her pelvis and remove fluid. She acknowledged that her injuries could have been worse and said: “It is a deep puncture wound with quite a lot of severe muscle trauma… I was really lucky because it was probably like a millimetre from my colon.”
She added: “The wound vac just wasn’t quite able to do the proper work to drain the fluid out of my body so it could heal… That’s where the surgery came in. We discovered a pocket of fluid that was untouched by the wound vac.”
“We were trying to avoid surgery because it meant opening up the area more, which causes a bit more damage… In the end, it was probably the best option to clean out the wound and figure out what was going on in there.”
“I was able to have my oblique reattached to my iliac crest. There was a layer that was torn away… I think if all things had gone perfectly and all the drainage just came out, we were pretty sure the season would be possible… It just depends on how I improve over the next weeks and months,” she stated.
Although she is unsure of her return, Shiffrin wanted to continue holding the record for the most World Cup victories ever by alpine skiing. The athlete feels fortunate to have escaped life-changing injuries, even though she has to wait for her historic 100th victory.
Source: Eurosport