SOUTHEAST Asian Games gold medalist Christiana Means is appealing for help to fund her knee operation.
The Fil-American skateboarder shared her plight in a lengthy Facebook post on Friday, saying she 'hit the wall financially and emotionally' since tearing her meniscus and suffering a sprained MCL nine months ago.
Her knee injury has since gone worse which led to a torn ACL, multiple meniscus tears, and ongoing MCL damage, Means added.
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“Surgery is no longer optional, it’s now critical,” she said.
Means shared that she paid for all of her checkups, therapy sessions, and tests all while trying “for months to get insurance help — no one will cover it.”
“I’ve tried to handle it privately and independently for as long as I could but I’ve hit the wall financially and emotionally,” she stated.
Means won the women’s park gold and silver medals in women’s street and game of skate during the 30th SEA Games here.
She last competed in the 2024 X-Games in Ventura, California where she finished 14th in the women’s skateboard street.
In the gofundme campaign, Means said: "I spent months resting, doing physical therapy, strength training, and managing pain — thinking I was on the road to recovery… not realizing I had an undiagnosed ACL problem after my fall.
"It turns out my previous ACL graft wasn’t stable anymore. It never allowed my knee to fully heal — and it slowly gave out, like a bag of chips tearing from the side."
If you want to help Means on her road to recovery, please go to her GoFundMe page.
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