Ski Sunday presenter and former Olympic skier Chemmy Alcott has revealed that she suffered a collapsed lung after a painful accident while on holiday in France.
The 44-year-old was enjoying a trip to Lake Annecy in the French Alps when she attempted a front flip from a five-metre platform.
She landed badly in the water and was later taken to hospital.Alcott explained that she initially tried to brush off the incident and even considered jumping again because she was embarrassed and did not want to make a big deal out of the landing.
However, she soon realised that she was struggling to breathe properly and decided to seek medical attention.Doctors discovered that she had suffered a collapsed lung, also known as a pneumothorax. She required a chest drain and spent several nights in hospital recovering.
Sharing footage and photos from the incident, Alcott joked about the experience, describing it as an expensive lesson after getting the rotation wrong during the jump.Despite the frightening experience, she also said she had loved her time in Annecy, although the holiday clearly did not end the way she had planned.A collapsed lung happens when air becomes trapped between the lung and the chest wall, which can make breathing difficult. In Alcott’s case, the injury was linked to the force of her landing in the water.
The former GB skier had a successful career competing across downhill, super-G, giant slalom, slalom and combined events. She became the first and only British female skier to win a run in a World Cup race.She competed at four Winter Olympics, with her final appearance coming at the 2014 Sochi Games.
She later moved into television and became a regular face on Ski Sunday, eventually becoming a lead presenter alongside Ed Leigh.Earlier this year, Alcott was also part of the BBC’s coverage of the Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina.Her latest accident serves as a reminder that jumping into open water from significant heights can carry serious risks, even when the activity initially appears harmless.
