2:03 pm | April 9, 2019 | Go to Source | Author:
Auburn gymnast Sam Cerio underwent surgery Monday for two dislocated knees and multiple torn ligaments in both legs after she left Friday’s NCAA regional on a stretcher with air casts on her legs.
Orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews performed the surgery.
“Sam’s surgery lasted two and a half hours and was an extreme success,” Auburn coach Jeff Graba wrote on Twitter. “We know the road for full healing is going to be a long and difficult one, but we are confident that she’ll be able to make a complete recovery.”
On the first tumbling pass of her floor routine, Cerio landed awkwardly as she was trying to execute a double front with a blind landing.
Athletic trainers and medical staff tended to Cerio for nearly eight minutes before she was taken off in a stretcher. The crowd at LSU’s Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the host site for the regional, gave her a standing ovation.
“The Auburn Athletics Department is thankful for the outstanding care that the Auburn and the LSU medical staffs have provided to Sam,” Graba said. “We also are thankful for the support from the LSU Athletics Department for going above and beyond in this situation.”
Cerio, a 5-foot senior, posted on Instagram that Friday’s meet was her final night as a gymnast, expressing her gratitude to Auburn and the gymnastics community for the support.
“It may not have ended the way I had planned, but nothing ever goes as planned,” Cerio wrote.
Auburn advanced to the regional final Friday night but did not qualify for the NCAA championships after a fourth-place finish.
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