Last winter, alpine skier Lisa Hörnblad suffered blood poisoning in her newly operated knee – which she injured during a super-G race in January last year, her second serious knee injury since 2018.
On January 28, she was back on skis again, but about a month ago, the 27-year-old was forced to take another break from skiing.
"It's nice for my knee that I don't ski anymore now. It's nice not to have to be in so much pain," she says.
Started new treatment
"After the blood poisoning, the knee got so much worse. I tried skiing after that and I was in extreme pain," says Hörnblad, who recently started a new treatment.
What kind of treatment is it?
– It's a very simple treatment, PRP it is called. You take out lots of blood and send in fresh blood. You run it in some machine and then back into your lap. You take some such syringes, which will give the knee a better environment to heal in.
What is the forecast going forward?
"Now it's a natural break because it's summer. I intend to take three and a half months "off" from skiing. So, I'll let the knee recover. That's the plan.
"Super scary and sad"
So you're aiming to go this winter?
–Really. I really want to go back. But it is sad that the body wants the opposite.
Have you had any thoughts about quitting?
"Of course the thought has crossed your mind. Which is super scary and sad. Sad that this might happen. But I want to give it one last chance.
How do you wrestle with these feelings?
"A lot, of course. Above all, I think it is sad that the body has become so bad. I try to think positively and do what I can. Things don't always turn out as expected. But it's something I work on all the time.