Lindsey Vonn Shares the Valuable Lesson She Learned From Losing Her Mom to ALS

The alpine skier opened up about her grief and her takeaways from her mother’s decline.

Lindsey Vonn / Christopher Creveling-USA TODAY Sports

Since losing her mom to ALS in 2021, former professional alpine skier Lindsey Vonn has been relatively outspoken on social media, sharing stories of her mother and bringing awareness to her illness.

Admittedly, it’s not always easy baring grief on a public platform. But Vonn feels that it’s necessary. “Sometimes I feel like I just want everyone to know who my mom was and how amazing she was,” she said in a recent feature in Elle. “I’m overwhelmingly emotionally drawn to telling my mom’s story and telling everyone how much I miss her.”

But it’s not just about sharing how wonderful her mother was. It’s about sharing details of her decline, in the hopes that one day ALS will be curable. Vonn’s mother told her to use her “platform to bring awareness” so that others won’t have to suffer the same way she did. So that’s just what Vonn is doing.

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Vonn’s mother taught her countless things, but it was her mother’s battle with ALS and eventual passing that taught Vonn perhaps her most valuable lesson: “What I’ve learned is to never waste a chance to say I love you. Don’t waste a chance to give someone a hug. Don’t wait for an opportunity. Go do it. Go explore. Go live. Go try,” she said. “All I can do is do what my mom did and just keep trying with a smile on my face.”

It’s a valuable lesson—and one that we could all take to heart. Undoubtedly, Vonn will carry it with her throughout the rest of her life.