Some of the comments I see here about skating injuries , especially knees, make me nervous since I took up skating last year to build up my knee after tearing my MCL while skiing.
Honestly until you get into higher level jumps (Axel+) the risk if serious knee injury is really fairly minor if you eliminate freak accidents (the sort which can also happen off the ice).
I did some serious damage to my knee skating as a teenager because I dislocated it on a jump landing.. but 18 years later I know there were multiple contributing factors, none of which are really a factor for me now.. I know what happened and why, and as a result it's not likely to happen again (I've also had the benefit of time and a different coach who has since corrected my jumping technique). That's not to suggest I couldn't re-injure myself or injure my knee in some other way, but I don't stress out about it - what fun would life be if we avoided everything because something bad "might" happen?
As a result of the surgical repair I now have OA in that knee, but for the most part it's not a problem and doesn't impact skating very much, but I do take a prescription anti-inflammatory drug regularly, which has helped a lot. If you don't jump (or limit how much jumping you will do), skating is a relatively low-impact activity and I think it's more beneficial than harmful.