BLOG: On March 26, 2013 I returned home from the World Cup Tour. I was returning home with plenty to think about and a thirst for success.
Ski cross athlete Sami Kennedy-Sim is hoping to make her Olympic debut at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.
BLOG: On March 26, 2013 I returned home from the World Cup Tour. I was returning home with plenty to think about and a thirst for success.
Upon my return, I had seen my doctors and decided with my coaches to address a niggling injury from September 2012. By the following Monday, I was on the surgery table for an arthroscopic meniscectomy – a surgery that most skiers have had once or twice! The damaged part of my knee cartilage was removed successfully and I waddled home to recuperate and prepare for the upcoming winter.
Two days later, on April 11, I suffered from an infarct stroke (cerebral infarction).
A what?
- A cerebral infarction occurs when a blood vessel that supplies blood to a part of the brain becomes blocked. The loss of blood supply results in death to that area of tissue. Cerebral infarctions vary in severity, with one third of cases resulting in death.
I was admitted to hospital in Canberra for five days, after which I chose to continue my treatment privately and under the supervision of the Australian Institute of Sport and New South Wales Institute of Sport medical teams.
I have been incredibly lucky. My stroke was minor, with no apparent permanent damage done. I have been working closely with the medical team and am very happy to be undergoing supervised training now that my medical affairs are coming back in order.
The exciting news is that I have been announced as a member of the Shadow Olympic team for Sochi 2014- a prospective Olympic Team member. I travelled to Melbourne and took part in an Olympic Team Assembly with my teammates Jenny Owens, Katya Crema, Scott Kneller and Anton Grimus. We tried on uniforms, signed documents and all got excited to work even harder together- towards being on the Olympic Team in February.
I look forward to returning to snow this month and I am feeling confident in my ambitious return to World Cup Ski Cross in December and to my debut Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia in 2014.
I would like to thank you all for your ongoing support-
See you in Sochi!
Sami
Follow my journey: www.samikennedysim.com
Twitter: @samikennedysim
Facebook: /SamiKennedySim
