Volkswacht Bodensee - Skier Vonn's Italian hospital a hotbed of men, sister says

In a short video accompanied by a love song, Vonn's younger sister Karin Kildow advised her followers to "delete your dating apps and just go to an Italian emergency room".

Her post was from the Italian hospital where Vonn underwent four operations on the leg she fractured in a horrific crash at the Winter Olympics.

Various male doctors or nurses in green scrubs are seen in the video on Kildow's Instagram handle.

They can be seen talking, walking down the halls, or writing in medical files, with the accompanying song "This Will Be (an Everlasting Love)" by Natalie Cole.

"I said there would be a silver lining... In all seriousness shout out to all the truly kind and caring doctors and nurses who helped Lindsey," wrote Kildow.

Vonn, 41, the 2010 Olympic downhill champion who relaunched her career in late 2024, fractured the tibia in her left leg during the women's downhill at the Milan-Cortina Games on February 8, where she hoped to capture the gold.

The fracture -- coming just over a week after she had ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee -- sent Vonn to the Ca' Foncello hospital in the city of Treviso, north of Venice.

Vonn was discharged on Sunday from the hospital and flown home to the United States.

Asked for comment, the president of the Italian Society of Emergency Medicine, Alessandro Riccardi, said he was "delighted that Lindsey Vonn's sister has recognised the beauty that exists in our emergency rooms."

"But we are even more delighted that she has recognised what really matters to us: the competence, professionalism, and profound value of emergency care and our National Health Service," he said in a statement to AFP.

Riccardi made a plea, however, to Kildow's 75,000 followers on Instagram.

"Now that the 'news' of the attractiveness of our professionals has been revealed... we ask you a favour: please don't storm the emergency rooms!"

M.Schneider--VB