An SNP MP has told how a skiing holiday ended up with her being stretchered off a French mountain with a dislocated knee.
Hannah Bardell, who represents Livingston at Westminster, shared details of the crash after cutting short her skiing trip due to the injury.
The MP, an experienced skier, was abroad with her partner when the accident happened.
"I’ve been skiing since I was a kid and am pretty confident," she said in a Facebook post today.
"However, after catching an edge on a bump at speed on an icy hill I tumbled out of control, felt my leg twist and my knee dislocate, tumbled down the mountain and landed in a state of shock.”
Bardell revealed how she was helped by a passing family of skiers and her partner before being “whisked down the mountain in a stretcher and off to hospital.”
She added how the damage to her knee was assessed in a nearby hospital.
“The x-ray tells you my bones are in beautiful condition and nothing is broken or fractured. Miraculously nothing snapped but I have sprained it very badly.”
Bardell, a mainstay of the Westminster women MPs football squad, said she was grateful for strength training and stretching exercises she does as part of her training regime and for the French medical and emergency services.
Her fiancé, who is a physiotherapist, is now keeping a watchful eye on her progress at home.
The fall means that Bardell, 38, will not be returning to Westminster after the half-term holiday.
She said: “I’m now going to be cutting about on two sticks rather than two skis with a trendy knee brace and suspect I won’t make it to Westminster for a couple week... back to home working.”
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