New Year, new hip! Christie Brinkley says that's how she rang in 2021.
In a post on Instagram on Tuesday, the model revealed that she had to undergo a hip replacement and proudly showed off the spot where she had the surgery.
"New Year, New Hip! Yes that’s a band aid on my hip," Brinkley wrote in the lengthy caption. "I injured my hip in a back country skiing helicopter crash on a mountaintop in Telluride many years ago. The pain in my hip got a little bit worse each year."
Brinkley and five others were involved in a helicopter crash on April 1, 1994, in Telluride, Colorado, according to The Associated Press. At the time, it was reported that the group was trapped for five hours up a mountain.
In her post, the 66-year-old said she was told that her hip needed replacing over a decade ago, but "the surgery was daunting! And I had things to do!"
Brinkley said the reason she finally agreed to replace her hip was because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which slowed down her life enough to "finally take time for myself and do something about the pain that had progressively influenced my decisions."
"I had my surgery at Thanksgiving and I was dancing in my kitchen by New Years Eve and today I put on my long fins and explored the coral reefs propelled by my new hip," she celebrated.
MORE: Billy Joel shares a video of his 5-year-old singingBrinkley hopes to inspire others to put their health first by speaking out about her surgery.
"I’m writing all this to say If you’ve been putting something off that could improve your well-being but hesitate out of some sort of fear, I suggest learning as much as you can about the process and the results and expectations" she said. "I can’t tell you how happy I am to have done this. Now I can focus on getting back in shape and rebuilding my strength."
Brinkley also joked she's never too old "to get hip!"
