Lindsey Vonn Says Doctor Saved Her Leg From Amputation After Olympic Crash

It’s been a brutal, two-week nightmare for Lindsey Vonn … and now we know just how close she came to losing her leg.

The Olympic legend revealed Monday in an Instagram video she finally made it out of the hospital after suffering what she called the “most extreme and painful and challenging injury” of her life -- “times a hundred” -- following her crash at the games.

Vonn didn’t hold back on the gruesome details … explaining she shattered her tibia, fractured her fibular head and tibial plateau -- saying “everything was in pieces.” But the real danger came from compartment syndrome, a condition where swelling and trapped blood can crush muscle, nerves and tissue.

That’s when Dr. Tom Hackett stepped in.

According to Vonn, the surgeon performed an emergency fasciotomy -- cutting open both sides of her leg to relieve the pressure -- a move she says saved her from amputation.

“He saved my leg,” Vonn said bluntly.

The six-hour surgery to rebuild it went well, but the aftermath was no cakewalk. Vonn revealed she lost so much blood she needed a transfusion ... pain was “out of control,” and she remained hospitalized longer than expected.

And as if that wasn’t enough -- she also broke her right ankle.

Right now, Vonn’s in a wheelchair and “very much immobile,” expecting to spend at least two months on crutches before she can even think about walking normally.

The full recovery will take much longer.

"It will take around a year for all of the bones to heal," Vonn wrote in her post, "and then I will decide if I want to take out all the metal or not, and then go back into surgery and finally fix my ACL."

Despite the devastating end to her Olympic dreams, Vonn says she has “no regrets” … adding she’d “rather go down swinging than not try at all.”

In true Vonn fashion, she vows to keep getting back up.

“It really knocked me down,” she said, “but I’m like Rocky.”