EXCLUSIVE: Russian beauty who split with AFL star Josh Gibson after a boating crash left her in a wheelchair is walking again following months of gruelling rehabilitation
- Olga Kononchuk sustained shocking injuries in a boating accident in 2018
- The mother of two was airlifted to hospital with spinal injuries after the mishap
- Former AFL great Josh Gibson split with the Russian beauty last month
- Kononchuk will participate in Melbourne's Run for the Kids to help sick children
The ex-girlfriend of former AFL champ Josh Gibson has bounced back from a shocking spinal injury that left her in a wheelchair.
Olga Kononchuk is back walking again after months of gruelling rehabilitation and is even planning to hit the road in next month's Melbourne's Run for the Kids - a little over a year after she sustained horrific injuries in a boating accident.
The fall on Stakes Day in 2018 saw the Russian beauty airlifted to hospital with damage to vertebrae in her lower back.
Olga Kononchuk and Josh Gibson before their shock split
Olga Kononchuk during her stint in wheelchair. She plans to hit the road in a charity run
Olga Kononchuk's Instagram page is littered with images of her living the high life on luxury boats and private jets
She was confined to a wheelchair and endured months of rehabilitation.
Adding insult to injury, the mother of two made headlines last month after her split with Gibson.
Gibson is a former AFL star who played for the North Melbourne Football Club and Hawthorn.
He collected a large following on social media after his appearance on reality television series, 'I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!'
Gibson and Ms Kononchuk had only been together five months when she was rushed to hospital after the accident.
Just days after the split, Gibson made news again when he was spotted flirting with a scantily-clad DJ at an A-list polo event.
Kononchuk had been dating Gibson for almost two years before their sudden split.
The pair have remained tight-lipped about what led to the break, with Gibson declaring he aimed to avoid the spotlight.
'I'm really focusing on putting my head down over the next few months,' he said.
Sources have told Daily Mail Australia it was Gibson's hectic lifestyle that caused the couple to go their separate ways.
Josh Gibson (far right) flirts with DJ Kat Niall at a polo event in Melbourne last month
Wonder woman Olga Kononchuk and Batman Josh Gibson in happier times. Gibson wiped Ms Kononchuk from his social media accounts after their split
AFL footy legend and reality star Josh Gibson broke up with his Russian girlfriend Olga Kononchuk (pictured together) around Christmas last year
Ms Kononchuk did not respond to Daily Mail Australia's requests to chat, but friends have rallied behind her comeback run.
On Thursday, supporters had already donated $1576 to her $5000 target, with one anonymous well-wisher donating more than $1000 of that total.
'I've created this page because I want to make a difference,' Ms Kononchuk stated on her funding page.
'I'm inspired by the work of Royal Children's Hospital Good Friday Appeal and wanted to support them ... Thank you in advance for your generosity, it means a lot! Love Olga.'
Olga Kononchuk is back up on her feet after a shocking boating accident saw her confined to a wheelchair
Ms Kononchuk was a regular at the event before the crushing injury threatened to keep her off the track.
'You only live once, but if you do it right, once it's all you need,' she wrote on social media.
The glamorous socialite, whose Instagram page is littered with photos of her touring the world in private jets and helicopters, would appear to be loving life again after her break from the party boy Gibson.
Just five days ago she posted a photograph of herself enjoying a movie at Rippon Lea Estate with a new man under her wings.
'Friday night, movie night, date night,' she wrote.
Photos of her and Gibson in happier times remain up on her page alongside photos of her jetsetting escapades across the globe.
Gibson stripped his social media of images of Ms Kononchuk after the couple split just before New Year.
Olga Kononchuk is loving life again after a tough year-and-a-half that saw her confined to a wheelchair
Olga Kononchuk
Olga Kononchuk at a previous Run for the Kids event. She has made a remarkable recovery and plans to run it again next month
