Sam Smith says they were left unable to walk and with “permanent” damage after a ski accident.
In a recent episode of the Sidetracked podcast, the 32-year-old “Latch” singer — who uses they/them pronouns — explained that they tore their ACL and had to be rescued from a ski slope after a tragic accident earlier this year.
“I completely ripped my ACL. I was skiing. I was an idiot and went on a black slope on the second day,” Smith shared with podcast hosts Annie Macmanus and Nick Grimshaw during the July 18 episode.
They continued, “I got taken down in a blood bag. It was the worst. It’s a permanent thing.”
According to the “Unholy” crooner — who, earlier this year, was spotted by paparazzi walking with a cane and wearing a knee brace — the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) was fully torn and caused them to be unable to walk or move around much.
“It’s in between your bones and helps you jump and spring around. It completely ripped and I decided to go down the non-surgical route but I couldn’t walk for a month on this leg and it was awful,” Smith shared. “It was the first time I’d ever not been able to move and I was holding onto a bit of weight. I was very anxious. I used it as an excuse to get my s**t together.”
ACL injuries, per the Cleveland Clinic, are incredibly painful and many can require surgery to repair the tear. Recovery times can vary but some can require up to a year in order to return to normalcy.
Smith has been on a hiatus from making music and says they used the time off to recover both physically and mentally. That includes cleansing their social media and starting over virtually (a.k.a. new phone, who dis?).
“I actually just got rid of my phone and I got a new phone. It’s the first time I don’t have my library of music that I’d had since I was like 11,” they shared. “I started again — fully started again. I needed an American number and my phone was just full of people like exes and all these different people through the years.”
The singer and style enthusiast added, “And I took social media off. Everything. It’s crazy. I find myself sitting on benches now in parks just looking at the trees.”
Cheers to that and a speedy recovery!
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