Christie Brinkley Undergoes Hip Surgery After 12 Years of Pain

Christie Brinkley is ringing in the new year with a new hip following hip replacement surgery. The model shared with her Instagram followers a photo of her on the side of a boat with a bandage on her hip.

“New year, new hip,” Brinkley began the post. “Yes, that’s a band aid on my hip. I injured my hip in a backcountry skiing helicopter crash on a mountaintop in Telluride many years ago. The pain in my hip got a little bit worse each year.” Brinkley went on to say she had been dealing with the pain in her joints for 12 years since the accident. She even said she put off surgery after being suggested to get it done way back then.

“But quarantine put a damper on any plans so I decided to finally take time for myself and do something about the pain that had progressively influenced my decisions,” she went on. Brinkley underwent the surgery on Thanksgiving, which she said gave her enough time to dance in her kitchen on NEw Year’s Eve.

In the photo, Brinkley was underwater donning long fins and and exploring the coral reefs. “I’m writing all this to say if you’ve been putting something off that could improve your well-being but hesitate out of some sort of fear, I suggest learning as much as you can about the process and the results and expectations,” she continued. It seems Brinkley is in good spirits after the surgery and isn’t letting it slow her down. She says her sights now set on “getting back in shape and rebuilding my strength.”

This operation isn’t the first surgery Brinkley has had to undergo. She was set to appear on Dancing With the Stars in 2019 before breaking her arm during rehearsals, forcing her not to be able to hit the dance floor at all. She ended up going under the knife for wrist and arm surgery. In her place came her daughter, Sailor Brinkley-Cook. The 21-year-old Sports Illustrated model wound up advancing a few rounds before becoming the fourth celebrity to be voted off of the competition. After her elimination, Christie was sobbing according to her daughter, who told USA Today her mother was not expecting her to be eliminated at that point. Making things even tougher, it also was the only live show that her mother didn’t attend.