Aleksander Aamodt Kilde reveals 'toughest part' of horror crash recovery – 'Uncertainty about everything'
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Updated 23/03/2024 at 13:10 GMT
Norway's Aleksander Aamodt Kilde has given an update on his recovery from a horror crash in January, telling Eurosport that he had been worried about not being "capable of living a normal life again" but was now making "pretty good" progress. Kilde crashed into the barriers during the downhill race at the Alpine Ski World Cup in Wengen, and has been in recovery since.
Kilde worried about being ‘capable of living a normal life again’ after horror injury
Alpine skier Aleksander Aamodt Kilde told Eurosport that he had been worried about not being “capable of living a normal life again” after a horror crash in January.
Kilde had been competing in the downhill race at the Alpine Ski World Cup in Wengen when he crashed into the barriers, suffering shoulder injuries and nerve damage to his calf.
The 31-year-old was airlifted to hospital and has spent the past couple of months recovering.
He was able to attend the World Cup in Saalbach as a spectator, and discussed his recovery from the crash.
“It’s going good,” he said. “It’s pretty good. A lot of progress the last couple of weeks, getting out of the wheelchair, starting to train a little bit more than it's been in the last 10 weeks.
“So, definitely positive things happening. Just enjoying doing things that I actually like to do. It's been hard for me to just lay in bed and not being able to move.
“Just to be around people you know, people you love and also be around the circles where you belong, right. It's a very nice feeling.”
The road to recovery has been long for Kilde, and at one point he was not certain he would be able to compete again.
“I would say just the uncertainty of everything,” he said when asked what had been most difficult during the recovery process. “If I'm capable of living a normal life again. When there's nerves involved, you never know.
“The foot could be hanging, I wouldn't be able to even walk properly. I'm still struggling a little bit with walking, especially without shoes. My toes are still not really working.
“So that was the toughest part, not knowing what's going to happen and what I'm capable of doing. So I really, really enjoy just being able to move again. But the hardest part was the uncertainty about everything.”
Kilde also revealed he would be pushing for the introduction of increased safety measures for alpine skiers, including airbags and cut-proof suits.
“We have to follow the International Ski Federation rules, right,” he said. “I think they have to set the bar.
“They have to set an example of okay, we want to do something different. Then if they start communicating that, everybody else is going to start working on it. I'm here now saying it, so that's a good start.”
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