Lanzinger to have leg amputated

jake1985 · 03-04-2008, 10:33 PM

Wow, I've never heard of someone having to have their limbs amputated because of skiing accidents. To think, all I was worried about was a body cast or coma (from hitting a tree)!

Here's the news story:

Austrian skier Matthias Lanzinger will have his left leg amputated after breaking it during a World Cup race in Norway on Sunday, the Austrian ski federation said on Tuesday.

"As a result of irreparable tissue damage an amputation to avoid lasting serious damage is unavoidable," the federation said in a statement.

It said the operation would take place in the next few hours in Oslo.

Lanzinger crashed spectacularly out of his run in the latter stages of the super-G race on the Olympiabakken course and finished in the safety net. He was carried down on a sledge by officials.

Bunny · 03-05-2008, 06:04 PM

Oh that's just awful. I made the mistake of watching the video of the crash and it's so scary.

The last report I read said he was doing "satisfactory" so I hope he continues to recover okay.

SkiMonkey · 03-05-2008, 07:13 PM

That's awful! You never really think of the dangers until it happens to someone or yourself. I too hope that he makes it out okay. It is sad that he won't be able to ski the way he used to anymore

jake1985 · 03-06-2008, 06:59 AM

Forgot to include a link to the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sj-N9...eature=related

There are several clips at youtube but this one was the best. The sad thing that I found at youtube was the nasty comments left by some viewers. Are there really people that have nothing better to do then to make fun of someone else's misfortunes? Really ridiculous.

slushy · 03-06-2008, 09:03 AM

I read about this on bbc the other day. I just never really had amputation on my radar for skiing accidents... fractured limbs, concussions, even coma or spinal injury. I wonder if he'll be the sort to be up there on one ski after his recovery. My guess would be yes!

I think I'll skip the video. I have a weak stomach for those sort of things.

jake1985 · 03-15-2008, 06:58 AM

I am curious as to how he is doing after the leg amputation but cannot seem to locate any articles about it. Has anyone heard anything lately? Odd, but the news seemed to want to blast the crash but now they don't appear to be interested in the aftermath.