Tennis influencer Rachel Stuhlmann is feeling “extremely thankful” after she suffered a neck injury that required surgery in a recent car wreck.
Stuhlmann, who played college tennis at the University of Missouri, shared in a post on Instagram Monday that she underwent a successful anterior cervical disc replacement surgery to remove the C5-C6 disc in her neck and replace it with an artificial disc.
“Brace yourself.. not my usual post,” the 31-year-old captioned her post, which featured a photo of her wearing a neck brace. “But wanted to share a life update – not too long ago I was in a car wreck. I underwent anterior cervical disc replacement surgery to remove the C5-C6 disc in my neck and replace it with an artificial disc.”
Stuhlmann went on to thank her surgeon, Han Jo Kim, MD, and the staff at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York “for taking the best care of me and making this process as successful as possible.”
Stuhlmann also shared a snap of her holding up a peace sign and thanked those that reached out.
Now, the 6-foot brunette said she’s eager to attack her recovery.
“As I begin the healing process and physical therapy journey, I’m feeling encouraged, determined, and eager to lean into some qualities that I haven’t tapped into since my competitive playing career 10 years ago,” she said, referring to her college days playing tennis for the Tigers.
“Thanking God for a successful surgery. And a huge thank you to my amazing family and friends, and everyone who reached out and kept my spirits up.
“This isn’t a setback! It’s just all part of the comeback and I can’t wait to be feeling 100% again!”
It’s unclear exactly when Stuhlmann was involved in the car accident.
“Life isn’t all about pretty pictures,” she said in a statement to The Post. “It’s about challenges that we all face.
“I wanted to share this with my followers because I think it’s important to know that I’m a real human who goes through things just like they do.”
The tennis personality, who travels the world covering various tournaments, attended the WTA Finals in Cancun, Mexico, last month.
Stuhlmann previously shared that she is on a mission to prove that the sport of tennis can be sexy and relatable while remaining true to its longstanding traditions.
“I want to bring attention to this sport in a positive way,” she told The Post at the 2022 U.S. Open. “It’s funny because there are a lot of girls kind of like me in golf, but there’s nothing really intense in tennis. And I’m like, ‘You know, you can be yourself, you can look a certain way and still be fun around this sport.’
“I know that what I’m doing is good for the game and I’m just going to keep being myself and keep trying to make the game more mainstream and relatable — be unapologetic.”
Stuhlmann is creating a lane for herself as the No. 1 tennis influencer by securing partnerships with brands including BodyArmor, Topgolf and DraftKings.
