Gymnast Samantha Cerio, the Auburn University gymnast who broke both knees and tore multiple ligaments during a routine in Louisiana earlier this month, says the injury is “just another thing to get through.”
Giving an interview to Today on Monday, Cerio, 22, spoke about the scary incident — video of which went viral. Cerio sustained her gruesome injuries after she touched down badly while doing a blind landing on a tumbling pass. She later underwent a successful surgery and is expected to eventually make a full recovery.
“When I had landed that one, I felt like something was a little wrong, and I thought I had just hyperextended my knees until I looked down and that wasn’t the case,” she explained of the incident.
Continued Cerio, “When I saw what happened, that’s when the pain kind of started to set in and it got worse. It was a big, ‘Oh shoot, what just happened?’ ”
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Though she’s still on the mend, Cerio has big plans in the near future. Auburn head coach Jeff Graba previously said that following the gymnast’s retirement, her biggest focus is on marrying fiancé Trey Wood in two months. (Cerio revealed on Instagram that Wood popped the question in November 2018.)
Said Graba to NBC News, “She wants to walk down the aisle and get married, and we’re hoping she can do that.”
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“I’m really excited just because I have so many positive things coming up,” Cerio outlined to Today on Monday. “I mean, this is a small setback, but it’s …just another thing to get through. … Even though that was my last gymnastics meet, everything we do, everything I have done and trained for … has always been for my team. Just knowing that I have their support behind me.”
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Last week, Cerio spoke out about those sharing video of her injury on social media, asking people to stop “tagging me in the video,” according to USA Today.
The gymnast reportedly wrote on Twitter, “Going through the pain and seeing my knees bent unnaturally in real life was horrible enough, but to continue to see it from videos/pictures because some people feel entitled to repost it is not okay. I have family, friends and teammates who do not need to see me getting injured over and over again.”
“My pain is not your entertainment,” she added, according to the outlet.
