Amy Van Dyken Rouen: Going Home After 2 Months In Spinal Rehabilitation


Amy Van Dyken-Rouen is finally heading home after two months in the hospital.

Van Dyken Rouen, who was injured when an All-Terrain Vehicle rolled over her, has been discharged and is heading home from Craig Hospital. While in the hospital, she was able to use Twitter to share thoughts and funny stories and thoughts. “There’s been a lot of tears shed, for sure,” she said. “This is not easy, and I don’t want to portray the fact that because I have a smile on my face that it really is easy.”

Van Dyken Rouen is eager to use her profile to push for a cure for spinal cord injuries, reports 9News. It is the unknown that she says haunts so many people.

“We need research. We need a cure. Will I ever walk? I don’t know,” she remarked.

She remains eternally grateful to her therapists, her doctors and her family. Her husband, former NFL punter Tom Rouen, and her mom have been at Craig with her every day. However, it is the fellow patients she’s met that have inspired her the most.

“I’ve made lifelong friends, and they’ve changed the way I think about the world,” she said. “These are the strongest people I know.”

Van Dyken Rouen, a six-time Olympic swimming champion during the Atlanta and Sydney Olympics, was severely injured when an ATV rolled on top of her on June 6 near her home in Show Low, Ariz.. Her case was so serious that she and her husband, former Denver Broncos punter Tom Rouen, said their goodbyes before she was rushed into surgery.

Last week, Van Dyken Rouen joined about 50 other Craig Hospital patients for a boatride on the Cherry Creek Reservoir.

For the past two months, Van Dyken Rouen has faced many challenges, particularly that of Van Dyken Rouen’s routine taking place in her favorite place: the swimming pool, according to USA Today.

“The first time I went into the swimming pool was the hardest thing,” Dyken Rouen said. “Because I’m going in there as a spinal-cord injured individual who is supposed to be doing therapy in the pool, and I was like, ‘I’m not doing therapy, I’m doing laps.’ And they looked at me like, ‘this is not what we’re doing.'”

Things are improving for Van Dyken Rouen. Recently, she has tweeted she recently graduated from a hospital bed to a regular bed. She’s also got herself some sporty new wheels; a purple wheelchair with purple rims and skulls etched into the metal bars.

Though there is a long way to go, Amy Van Dyken Rouen has gotten the first, most important ingredient; a positive attitude. That’s always the first, best step.

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