Olympic swimmer Amy Van Dyken-Rouen, whose spinal cord was severed in an ATV accident June 6, is paralyzed from the waist down but is still inspiring those around her — even her neurosurgeon — with her positive attitude.
Dr. Luis Manuel Tumialan said he’s never had a patient like her in 14 years.
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"She has literally walked through hell with a smile on her face, the likes of which I've never seen,"
Tumialan told USA Today. "She's not smiling because this is easy. She's smiling because she is Amy Van Dyken-Rouen. I'd save her for last (on his rounds) so I can sit down and get a little bit of a lift (from her)."
After the accident, Van Dyken-Rouen underwent a six-hour, dangerous surgery that could have killed her. On Wednesday, she was flown to Denver to continue her recuperation near her home.
As she boarded the plane, USA Today recorded Van Dyken-Rouen’s message about the possibility of being able to walk again, which Tumialan said is unlikely: "I don’t know. We don’t know what’s going to happen. I have no feeling. I have no feeling from probably my pubic bone down. I don’t know if it will come back. So right now I look at it this way.
“I’m going to get the best wheel chair ever,” she told USA Today. “I’m going to make it so cool. I’m going to put skulls and crossbones on it because that’s my thing. Make it purple. I’m going to do my hair to match my chair and I’m going to rock it out. That’s my prognosis.”
Van Dyken-Rouen has been posting photos of herself in a body brace on her Instagram account, often showing herself smiling or even giving a thumb’s up, always with a positive message.
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