Discover the incredible story of Swedish skier Josehanna Lundgren Wikström’s battle with illness after the U23 World Championships 2024. From life-threatening health issues to her inspiring journey back to training.

“Am I going to die now?” That was the question the 23-year-old Swedish World Championship skier asked her mother just a few months after representing Sweden at the U23 World Championships in Planica 2024. Read the incredible story of Josehanna Lundgren Wikström.

From World Championship excitement to a nightmare

The 23-year-old from Karlstad, competing for IFK Mora, qualified for the Swedish team at the U23 World Championships in Planica 2024. Once there, she noticed that her body was not responding. Finishing 33rd and 35th in the distance races marked the beginning of a nightmare where, at one point, she truly believed she was going to die.

The story was first reported by Expressen and also published by Langd.se.

Josehanna Lundgren Wikström had overcome several injury issues in the pre-season. She made her World Cup debut in Östersund and qualified for Planica.“I was super happy and excited. It felt like everything was going smoothly,” Josehanna told Expressen.

But something was wrong during the championships in Slovenia. She didn’t perform at all as she had hoped.
“It felt really weird. I thought maybe I was just a bit nervous or experiencing a slump in form. But when the competition actually started, I had no strength at all. It was like waking up in someone else’s body.”

She could never have imagined the terrible journey that was about to begin.

Rushed to the Hospital by Ambulance

The poor results in Planica left Josehanna feeling depressed, and she didn’t feel well at all. A month after the U23 World Championships, she competed in a sprint race in Östersund but delivered one of her worst performances. She withdrew from the competition the following day and returned home to Falun. That’s when her body really started to react.

“One day, I woke up with a very high fever and felt that my kidney wasn’t doing well,” she told Expressen, explaining that she was born with a kidney malformation, which had caused problems over the years.

She was taken to the hospital.
“At the hospital, they told me I had a urinary tract infection and needed to take antibiotics. I thought that would make me feel better.”

Skiers often think that way—everything will pass, and soon they’ll be back in competition. But the fever didn’t go down, and with a temperature of 40°C, the U23 World Championship skier traveled to her parents’ home in Karlstad.
“I was in so much pain that I didn’t know what to do. When I arrived at my parents’ house, I sat on the couch for an hour before I genuinely felt like I was about to die,” she said.

Her parents immediately called for an ambulance.
“I was standing in the hallway, shaking. At that moment, I had no idea that I was facing a long period of extreme pain and suffering.

A Surgery Gone Wrong

Doctors found an infection in one of her kidneys. They inserted a tube, but instead of helping, it ruptured the kidney, allowing urine and blood to flow into her body, putting her at risk of sepsis.

“It was horrific. I felt completely helpless“, said Josehanna.

She had difficulty speaking, was put on oxygen, and communicated with her mother by squeezing her hand.

“My heart barely wanted to keep beating. I am so grateful that my mother was there to tell the hospital staff that I needed immediate help. I would never have been able to press the emergency button myself—I would have fainted,” she told Expressen.

Three Weeks in the Hospital

After the first operation, several more followed. In total, the Swedish World Championship skier spent three weeks in the hospital.

“Am I going to die now? I asked the nurses,” Josehanna recalled, describing the terrifying feeling she had.

After three weeks, she was discharged, but her damaged kidney remained in her body. Two months later, doctors were finally able to remove the tube from her kidney. She then resumed light training and, for the first time, began thinking about skiing again.

Another Setback

But in the fall, she faced another setback. Her doctor called with bad news.
“He said, ‘This isn’t going to work, Josehanna. We have to remove the diseased part of your kidney. I’m terribly sorry, but you won’t be able to compete this season.’”

Her motivation crumbled after all the hard work she had put into her recovery.

She underwent another surgery, where 30% of the damaged kidney was removed. It wasn’t until nearly a year after the U23 World Championships in Slovenia that she finally got an answer about what had caused her health problems.

“I had been walking around with a kidney hemorrhage that eventually developed into chronic inflammation. It feels good to finally have an explanation for why I had been feeling so strange.”

Can She Make a Comeback?

Thinking about her skiing career has not been her top priority during this difficult period. Josehanna says she is now healthy but describes a strange sensation in her body.

“ou would think I’d feel a little empty, but instead, it feels like I have a tennis ball in my stomach. I don’t know if it’s scar tissue that hasn’t healed yet.”

She has recently started training again, but whether she will return to competitive skiing remains uncertain.

Training Again

“An average person can live with 70% of one kidney. But at the same time, no one has ever done this to an elite athlete before. I want to hope and believe that my body will get better now that the diseased part has been removed“, she told Expressen.

She still dreams of achieving her goals and has no intention of giving up without a fight.

For more articles related to skiing, go to ProXCskiing.com.