Overview
- Doctors at Oslo’s Ullevål University Hospital detected a vertebral fracture after examining Machado, though the hospital declined to confirm treatment due to privacy rules.
- Her press team confirmed the diagnosis to CNN following initial reporting by Norway’s Aftenposten, which noted her stay in Norway has been extended for medical reasons.
- Accounts of the extraction describe a nearly 16‑hour operation conducted mostly at night in rough seas, with a five‑hour small‑boat leg reported as the likely source of the injury.
- Flight‑tracking data verified by CNN show her onward flight departed Curaçao, while the Dutch embassy in Caracas denied any role in her departure.
- Machado arrived too late for the Dec. 10 Nobel ceremony, where her daughter accepted the prize on her behalf, and she later made a brief public appearance in Oslo.