Snowsport freestyle snowboarder Maisie Hill, 24, suffered horrific injuries at the start of 2023 while training that made her fell like a bag of bones that someone was jangling
A snowboarder who was told she may never walk again after a life-threatening crash is back on the slopes preparing for next year’s Winter Olympics.
GB Snowsport freestyle snowboarder Maisie Hill, 24, suffered severe injuries in January 2023 while training in Switzerland. Crashing at extreme speeds into a “wall of ice” while practising a routine rail trick, Maisie said she was almost killed by the amount of blood she lost from a lacerated liver.
She was transported by helicopter to Gaubunden Hospital in Chur, Switzerland, where she said she was told she may never walk again. She said the impact also punctured a lung, caused a major brain bleed and broke two vertebrae and four ribs.
However, through sheer determination within nine months Maisie was back on the slopes doing what she loves.
Maisie, from from Cheltenham, hopes to qualify for the Milano Cortina Olympic Winter Games in February 2026.
“As I lay on the ground after my crash, I felt like I was a bag of bones that someone had picked it up and was jangling.
“I remember the doctor listing all the injuries I had. It was horrible how many there were, it just went on and on. I was crying, wishing they’d stop talking.
“In my first season competing again 2023-24, I was very scared and was losing confidence in myself.
“However, I find that smiling every time I get back to the top of the slope helps me perform, reminding me how lucky I am and that I love snowboarding.”
In a separate tale of a remarkable recovery, a software engineer broke every bone in his face when he accidentally fell from a three storey balcony.
Back in 2022, Justin Starks, then 24, landed on his chin after a horrifying fall that miraculously left him with no brain damage or skull fractures.
His fall left him with breaks to all 14 facial bones, including his nasal bones, palatine bones and mandible.
Justin had to endure three face-saving surgeries. Doctors fused his jaw together, which resulted in changing his eating habits to “broth and water” so that he didn’t need to chew food ahead of his second surgery, a main round of reconstructive procedures.
He said at the time: “The doctors were extremely shocked to see the damage to my face, but specifically, the fact I had no fractures to my skull at all.”
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