U.S. skiing star Lindsey Vonn was emotionally candid in her first interview since nearly losing her left leg in her horrifying crash at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics.

Vonn, who appears on the cover of Vanity Fair, described the sheer panic and pain she endured — and a swarm of paparazzi — while she was hospitalized in Italy after shattering her tibia, fibula and ankle.

Vonn, who was airlifted by helicopter off the course last month, recalled being given painkillers before she was put in a CT scan under the care of Tom Hackett, the head physician for Team USA Ski and Snowboard.

“Halfway through, I started sweating. I was just in such extreme pain. I screamed at the top of my lungs: Get me out,” Vonn, a three-time Olympic medalist, said.

“It just wouldn’t dissipate. It wouldn’t let up. It’s seared into my brain.”

The scan revealed that Vonn had a severe fracture in her left leg that required surgical stabilization, and Hackett made the decision to transfer her to a hospital in Treviso, Italy.

However, the helicopter transferring her to the hospital had trouble landing because paparazzi had swarmed the helipad.

“It had somehow leaked that that’s where we were going,” Hackett told Vanity Fair. “Which was extraordinary. I didn’t tell anybody.”

Upon arrival, a team of 20 doctors and nurses scrubbed in to get to work on Vonn’s leg.

Although the first surgery went well, Vonn was in excruciating pain and her leg wouldn’t stop swelling.

“It’s getting worse, and she’s not responding to monster amounts of fentanyl, morphine, oxycodone, like every narcotic you can imagine,” Hackett said.

“Dr. Hackett was on my left. There were a bunch of doctors and nurses around me,” Vonn recalled. “He said, ‘Don’t worry, I’m going to save your leg. I got this. I’m scrubbing in.’”

Vonn had compartment syndrome, a dangerous condition where pressure mounts in the leg, restricting blood flow and causing widespread nerve damage.

“I’m sure you’ve seen hot dogs or brats on a grill. They get more and more swollen. Then all of a sudden, they burst. They crack. That’s basically what happens with compartment syndrome,” Hackett said.

“There was a very significant chance that she was going to lose all function of her leg, if not the leg itself. Best-case scenario in those situations is, you might keep your leg, but it’s going to be useless.”

Vonn spent nearly two weeks in a Milan hospital while immobile following multiple surgeries.

Vanity Fair wrote that “she’s still haunted by her stay” in the ICU: “Nurses woke her up every three hours, speaking a language she couldn’t understand. She shared a room with other patients, with only a thin curtain dividing them as she experienced the near-amputation of her leg. The lights stayed on until 11 p.m., and the exit sign stayed on all night.”

Vonn, grateful for her doctors and nurses in Treviso, said of the experience, “It took everything I had for it to not drive me insane.”

Vonn has documented her recovery on social media, sharing workout videos while getting around in a wheelchair and on crutches.

In one video, she praised Hackett for saving her leg, while explaining her complex leg fracture.

When asked by Vanity Fair if she’s thinking about returning to skiing again, Vonn said: “I don’t like to close the door on anything, because you just never know what’s going to happen. I have no idea what my life will be like in two years or three years or four years. I could have two kids by then. I could have no kids and want to race again. I could live in Europe. I could be doing anything.

“It’s hard to tell with this injury. It’s so f–ked up. I really feel like that was a horrible last run to end my career on.”