Arsenal defender Zinchenko told how he almost lost his leg to a flight attendant
Arsenal and Ukraine defender Oleksandr Zinchenko shares story of near-leg loss due to misunderstanding with flight attendant.
Quote: “I was on a Lufthansa flight and thought, ‘Let’s not waste time on reducing the swelling.’ So I asked the flight attendant for some ice for my ankle. At first, she didn’t understand me because my English was poor, and I didn’t speak any German. Eventually, she came back with something resembling ice in a plastic packet. I wrapped it, placed it on my ankle, and went to sleep. Problem solved.
About an hour later, I woke up expecting to find a bag full of melted water. But there was nothing – just an empty plastic bag. I was puzzled. Then I looked at my ankle. The skin had turned completely white. I put my sock back on, and after about 20 minutes, as it warmed up, blisters began to form. Large blisters were all over my ankle where the ice had been. Now I was worried. Something was clearly wrong. How could my ankle react like that?
The reason? I had frostbite. It turned out that the flight attendant had given me dry ice, which is three times colder than regular ice. It doesn’t melt but sublimates directly into gas when warmed. I had effectively exposed my bare ankle to Arctic temperatures. Blood flow to my ankle was cut off entirely, and the blood vessels were so severely damaged that the tissue had died.
If we hadn’t reached the hospital so quickly, gangrene could have spread, and they would have had to amputate my leg to save my life,” Zinchenko wrote in his autobiography.
Recall: Zinchenko’s autobiography, Believe, was released on October 24 and is written in English.
This season, the Ukrainian has lost his starting spot at Arsenal, logging just 79 minutes over two matches across all competitions.
Liam Carter
Dailysports's expert
Translated by the editors
