Amy Van Dyken competed as a swimmer prior to now however her life took an surprising flip. Here are some highlights of her life, together with her wonderful athletics feats and a tragic accident that paralyzed her.
After sustaining extreme accidents in an ATV accident that wrecked her backbone and rendered her paralyzed, Olympic gold medalist Amy Van Dyken declared herself extra religious than earlier than.
“You’re like, you understand what, there’s one thing larger and higher than me,” Van Dyken told Today in 2014. “Maybe you must concentrate on it slightly bit — as a result of I’d like to fulfill that particular person later fairly than sooner.”
Amy Van Dyken at Universal Studios Hollywood on November 19, 2019 in Universal City, California. | Photo: Getty Images
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
In 1996, Van Dyken beat bronchial asthma to win the 50-meter freestyle and 100 butterfly occasions. She was additionally a part of two successful relays and have become the primary American girl on the Olympics to win four gold medals.
The 2000 Olympics noticed Van Dyken accomplish two extra golds within the relay. At the time, she was a resident of Arizona, working domestically for a radio station earlier than going nationwide with Fox Sports Radio.
Originally from Colorado, Van Dyken spent two years swimming for the University of Arizona earlier than returning dwelling to attend Colorado State. In 2008, she was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Committee Hall of Fame.
THE ATV ACCIDENT
Van Dyken suffered a extreme spinal twine harm in an ATV accident on June 6, 2014. Her spinal twine and vertebral column had been stabilized with emergency surgical procedure when she was airlifted to a hospital.
Almost all the harm to the world got here inside millimeters of hitting and probably damaging her aorta. Nevertheless, the tragic accident rendered her paralyzed from her waist down.
She stated since her accident, it has been a sense she chases on daily basis.
SHE REMAINED POSITIVE
Following a two-month rehab session, Van Dyken left Craig Hospital in Englewood, Colorado. Her constructive perspective stored her completely happy as she arrived on the hospital in Englewood after two ambulances and a non-public jet experience.
Van Dyken, and her husband, Tom Rouen, had been using an ATV when Van Dyken hit a curb and fell down the embankment. According to her, she was face down and never respiratory when her husband discovered her.
‘SAID GOODBYE’
Even although the accident and her hospitalization are largely obscured from her reminiscence, Van Dyken fully remembered what the physician stated to her earlier than the emergency process.
“The physician advised me earlier than I went into surgical procedure to say our goodbyes,” Van Dyken said. “There was a superb probability I wasn’t going to make it out of surgical procedure. I checked out my husband and stated goodbye.”
WALKING AGAIN
After almost three months of therapy and rehab, she took her first steps with the help of a walker and an obvious bionic gadget. Van Dyken shared snaps and movies of her first steps after the accident on social media.
It is obvious from Van Dyken’s captions that she’s optimistic. She wrote that she was strolling once more. The Olympic athlete additionally received to face subsequent to her husband for the primary time in additional than two months.
SKIING FOR THE FIRST TIME
Van Dyken acquired an adaptive ski in 2017 that allows the paralyzed athlete to go downhill. As she slid downhill at Breckenridge Education Center in Colorado, Van Dyken told Today:
“I had desires about this!”
The athlete marked one other step ahead after struggling a extreme harm by taking over the game. The husband of Van Dyken, Rouen, stated snowboarding allowed his spouse to embrace the aggressive spirit inside her.
THE FOUNDATION SHE STARTED
The inspiration Van Dyken has supplied not just for her personal restoration but in addition for others by means of Amy’s Army, a basis she based along with her husband to assist others affected by spinal twine accidents.
Van Dyken needed to point out by instance that even the joys of dashing downhill was not taken away by a severed backbone. She stated since her accident, it has been a sense she chases on daily basis.
Meanwhile, Van Dyken attributed a lot of the development in her psychological skill, power, and her physique picture to the keto food plan, which is the latest development in weight-reduction plan, hailed by celebrities like Kim Kardashian.
SHE JOINED A COMPETITION
Van Dyken took part within the WheelWOD Games again in 2019. The recreation was an adaptive CrossFit competitors that calls for an effort to achieve the highest 12 on the planet in an effort to be invited.
In 2018, Van Dyken started doing adaptive CrossFit workout routines at one of many gyms in her dwelling state of Colorado. It simply felt proper to her, just because that is how she skilled on the Olympic Training Center.
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