Yikes! Auburn Gymnast Breaks BOTH Legs While Performing Routine During NCAA Championships [Video]

An Auburn University gymnast broke not one, but BOTH her legs while performing a routine at the NCAA Regional Semifinal in Louisiana on Friday night.

via NYDN:

Samantha Cerio suffered the gruesome injuries while doing a blind landing during a floor exercise routine at the Baton Rouge tourney.“It was pretty tough to watch,” Auburn coach Jeff Graba told the Times-Picayune.

“She’s a trooper. The last thing she said was, ‘Go help the girls.’ The girls rallied around her. They’re doing this for her right now.”

Graba told the paper that Cerio reached for the ground too early when the accident took place.

“It was really upsetting,” LSU coach D-D Breaux told the paper. “I saw the look on (our team doctor’s) face and he ran across the floor with lightning speed.”

Cerio is set to graduate in May, and the aerospace engineering major will work for Boeing in Seattle, according to the newspaper.

Auburn was able to advance despite the injury, but was eliminated the following day in the Regional Final.

Watch the graphic video below. Bless her heart.

Update: Samantha has officially retired from gymnastics following the accident.

She issued a statement saying:

After 18 years I am hanging up my grips and leaving the chalk behind. It may not have ended the way I had planned, but nothing ever goes as planned.

Thank you Auburn family for giving me a home and a chance to continue doing the sport that will always be my first love. I am honored to have had the privilege to represent the navy and orange AU for the past 4 years with my team by my side. Thank you for letting me share my passion with you. Thank you for letting me be a part of something bigger than myself.

We wish her well.