WARNING: This footage is gruesome, and some viewers may find it graphic and disturbing.
Samantha Cerio is a star gymnast from Auburn University in Alabama. While competing in the Baton Rouge Regional NCAA gymnastics event in 2019, the senior student suffered a horrific injury.
During her floor routine, Samantha went to perform a handspring double front with a blind landing, but, according to the Times-Picayune, she "reached for the ground a little too early."
The athlete crashed down into the mat while the cameras rolled. Gruesome footage showed Samantha dislocating both of her knees – and breaking both of her legs.
Staff and trainers went running toward the screaming athlete while she clasped her legs in pain. She was then carried out on a stretcher as the crowd stood on their feet, giving her a supportive standing ovation.
According to the New York Post, Samantha had been named an SEC co-scholar athlete of the year and was considered to be the "heart and soul" of the team.
Samanthavtook to Instagram to announce her retirement from the sport while she pursues her aerospace engineering degree: "After 18 years I am hanging up my grips and leaving the chalk behind. I couldn’t be prouder of the person that gymnastics has made me to become. It’s taught me hard work, humility, integrity, and dedication, just to name a few. It’s given me challenges and road blocks that I would have never imagined that has tested who I am as a person. It may not have ended the way I had planned, but nothing ever goes as planned."
WARNING: Some viewers may find the following video graphic and disturbing.
