PHOTO: Bildbyrån
On February 7, 1995, the accident happened to alpine skier Thomas Fogdö.
A then 24-year-old Fogdö was on his way down the ski slope in Åre – but fell so badly that he broke his back and was paralyzed from the waist down.
In a few months, 28 years will have passed since the accident, and this is how Thomas Fogdö lives today.
The 24-year-old Thomas Fogdö was at the peak of his career and at the time had already managed to secure five World Cup victories in slalom. But during a training ride in Åre, everything would change in an instant. During a transport stretch, Fogdö fell and landed on a stump – a fall so bad that he broke his back and was paralyzed from the waist down.
“It was brutal”
The months that followed were spent in hospital in Umeå.
– The man who operated on me was incredibly clear and said “you will probably have to sit in a wheelchair for the rest of your life”, so there was no room for any alternative interpretation. It was brutal, but I started to deal with it. But before I fully understood what they meant, I still don’t know that, Fogdö has previously said in an interview with Aftonbladet.
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The support that Thomas Fogdö received afterwards during his time at the hospital in Umeå was great, but the situation was, for obvious reasons, not easy for him.
– For the first month and a half, I was never down in the central hall (at the hospital). I didn’t want to go there. Many others have said the exact same thing, famous or unknown, it feels like everyone is staring at you. I was not at all comfortable in the situation. But I decided to do a press conference and then try to land it. I have never been comfortable in this public situation, now I am beginning to be at the age of 48, but then it was incredibly difficult, he has previously said.
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This is what he does today
Today, Thomas Fogdö works with sports psychology, among other things, while helping several alpine skiers. He has previously been a mental coach for André Myhrer. But he also works with lecturing, specifically on goal focus and mental training and on the art of facing opposition and overcoming difficulties.
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But he also continues to follow skiing very closely.
– I think downhill races are fun, but I don’t like when they fall. My whole body hurts when I see it. They are welcome to stay on their feet. But I love skiing, there has never been any bitterness. When I was in hospital, I was watching the season I was supposed to be on TV. I’m not mad at the skis, maybe I’m mad at myself.
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