10/02/2026
As many of you know I love sport and am really enjoying the Olympics (and not just because the news is now full of what someone has achieved rather than the negative stuff we normally get). Like many people I was amazed at Lindsey Vonn and her going for it in the downhill only a week after rupturing her ACL (main stabiliser of her knee).
I watched as she went for it and like many people my first impression was that the knee was a factor - I was wrong, she was pushing so hard her arm caught a pole and she fell - her knee was not the issue.
Sadly when you have one issue, everything can be blamed on this - I definitely try not to do this when I see a patient...just because you have one diagnosis doesn't mean that is the issue.
If you have arthritis, are obese, are pregnant or have a neurological issue possibly you are fed up of saying I know I have that but this feels different...we will look at you with fresh eyes and give you our honest opinion - sometimes that maybe your arthritic knee is the issue but sometimes it might be that you shouldn't drink and try the forward rolls you could do at school 30 years ago!
So please don't feel we will pre judge you and please don't ever feel embarrassed to come in because what you look like or what you have or haven't done to yourself.
And whatever else lets all try to be a bit more like Lindsey Vonn - she is awesome to go for it and chase her dream!
Yesterday my Olympic dream did not finish the way I dreamt it would. It wasn’t a story book ending or a fairy tail, it was just life. I dared to dream and had worked so hard to achieve it. Because in Downhill ski racing the difference between a strategic line and a catastrophic injury can be as small as 5 inches.
I was simply 5 inches too tight on my line when my right arm hooked inside of the gate, twisting me and resulted in my crash. My ACL and past injuries had nothing to do with my crash whatsoever.
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. Standing in the starting gate yesterday was an incredible feeling that I will never forget. Knowing I stood there having a chance to win was a victory in and of itself. I also knew that racing was a risk. It always was and always will be an incredibly dangerous sport.
And similar to ski racing, we take risks in life. We dream. We love. We jump. And sometimes we fall. Sometimes our hearts are broken. Sometimes we don’t achieve the dreams we know we could have. But that is the also the beauty of life; we can try.
I tried. I dreamt. I jumped.
I hope if you take away anything from my journey it’s that you all have the courage to dare greatly. Life is too short not to take chances on yourself. Because the only failure in life is not trying.
I believe in you, just as you believed in me.
❤️LV
