Pulmonary embolism in a cyclist
Emergency surgery saves Olympic champion Kristina Vogel
April 15, 2024, 8:45 p.m
“One more day at home would probably have been my last,” says double Olympic champion Kristina Vogel. The track cyclist, who has been paralyzed since a training accident, suffers a pulmonary embolism and has to undergo emergency surgery.
Double Olympic champion Kristina Vogel suffered a pulmonary embolism and had to undergo emergency surgery. “I had so many thrombi in my lungs that my heart pressure had already increased and it was becoming life-threatening,” wrote the 33-year-old former track cyclist in an Instagram story.
After she got worse and worse on the night from Friday to Saturday, her friend Michael Seidenbecher took her to the Berlin Accident Hospital on Saturday morning. “One more day at home would probably have been my last day!” said the former exceptional track cyclist and posted a photo from the hospital bed in which she was smiling again and still showing her left thumb up.
Vogel had already undergone several operations at the UKB in 2018 after her serious training accident. Since the accident she has been paralyzed and sits in a wheelchair. Once again, the UKB employees probably saved her life, said Vogel.
On Monday, the record world champion (11 titles) was transferred from the intensive care unit to the normal ward and will remain in the hospital for observation for a few more days. According to Vogel, initial assessments indicate that her paralysis was not the cause; further investigations will follow. Vogel had to end her career after her serious accident. Today she works for the Federal Police and as an expert on ZDF.