Van Dyken, 41, the wife of former National Football League player Tom Rouen, was launched over a curb while driving the vehicle in a parking lot and lost feeling in her legs. According to a letter posted online by Swimming World magazine from the family, she was airlifted to a Scottsdale, Arizona, hospital and underwent emergency surgery to repair her spine. Olympic Swimming Trials in Indianapolis.
Six-time Olympic gold medalist Van Dyken has a severed spine after an accident on her all-terrain vehicle in Arizona. A hospital spokeswoman didn't provide details Monday on the injuries. The swimmer was hurt Friday night, June 6, , and told emergency workers at the scene she could not move her toes or feel anything touching her legs.
Bedford Miller, one of her teammates from the Sydney Olympics, said anytime she swam on a relay with Van Dyken-Rouen, she knew they would win.
A few days after Van Dyken-Rouen severed her spinal cord Friday in Arizona, she let the world know through social media that she still has the winning spirit despite probably facing paralysis in her legs. My room is the most decorated in ICU. The photo, a selfie that revealed two scratches on her face, also showed a room filled with balloons and stuffed animals. Van Dyken-Rouen also retweeted a picture from Instagram that Hardbody News took of the front page of The Denver Post with the story on her accident and her fight to recover.
She later tweeted a photo of her sitting up in her hospital bed for the first time, with the help of aides and a back brace. Thank you for all thoughts and prayers. Van Dyken-Rouen severed her spinal cord in an all-terrain vehicle accident near her Arizona home.
