Vicky Price

About Vicky

My name is Vicky Price; I am 25 years old and am from Kent, the garden of England! Whilst there is absolutely no skiing or mountains where I live, my parents are avid skiers and took me with them on their ski holidays to the French Alps. This is where I learnt to ski, aged 3, and after a bumpy start in ski schools and crèches, grew to love it!

Career Background

After finishing school, I gained a place at university but was unsure that it was really what I wanted to do. So, I deferred a year and spent the winter in France on a training course to become a ski instructor. This turned out to be far too much fun so I turned down my place at university and have been teaching skiing ever since! I have worked in Italy, Switzerland and Australia.

Whilst I was having loads of fun working, I realised that I wanted to progress more with my own skiing and have been training through the ski school for whom I work, ‘New Generation’ towards gaining the ISIA stamp. Unfortunately rupturing my ACL this season has set me back a bit in this but I fully intend to get right back to training and pass those exams when I am recovered.

Treatment Procedure and Recovery Plan

I had heard much from a friend about a new kind of surgery to repair ACL’s, where instead of a hamstring graft, an internal brace (a kind of super strong tape) is used, along with anything remaining of the ACL to create the new ligament. This means a much faster recovery, less risk of re injury as the hamstring is not also weakened and less risk of arthritis later in life.

My injury was left as it was for too long to just have the internal brace so I had a hybrid of the internal brace and a very small hamstring graft. I could get around the house without crutches after just a few days and completely off of them after 3 weeks. I am now roughly 12 weeks post-surgery and back at work, doing lots of physio exercises, cycling and swimming and whilst I won’t be instructing skiing this year, I will be back next year stronger than ever!

Testimonial

"Having the funding and support of the Kees Brenninkmeyer Foundation has benefited me immeasurably. Without it I would have had to have my surgery through the NHS (National Health Service) where the waitlist was roughly 18 weeks, meaning that my knee would have deteriorated further and my return to work/skiing would be greatly delayed. I would also have to have had the hamstring graft which I really felt was not right for me and carried greater risks for returning to skiing."

- Vicky Price