Amy Van Dyken-Rouen, U.S. Olympic Swimmer, Takes First Steps After Severing Spine

Amy Van Dyken-Rouen severed her spine in an ATV accident in June and is already taking her first steps with the aid of a bionic exoskeleton.

Amy Van Dyken-Rouen Walks

Van Dyken-Rouen stood up and walked for the first time at the Craig Hospital in Colorado. The former Olympic swimmer shared the milestone on Instagram with a pair of videos. “Standing up for the first time on my own in 2 1/2 months,” she captioned the first video, adding with the second, “Here it is…I’m WALKING!!! #onestepatatime #itcouldhappen.”

“Who’s excited to be walking with an exoskeleton? This chick! #dreamscometrue #happygirl,” wrote Van Dryken Rouen, posting a picture of herself outside of the rehab facility on her own two feet and moving along with the help of a walker.

Without even the aid of a walker, Van Dyken-Rouen posed upright with her husband Tom Rouen for a picture.

Van Dyken-Rouen was released from the hospital last week after two months of intensive therapy. The athlete shared the ups and downs of her recovery in a press conference upon her much-anticipated release.

“It’s been a lot of work, absolutely,” Van Dyken-Rouen said. “It’s been a lot of smiles, and a lot of laughs and a lot of ‘woo-hoos,’ and a lot of singing. There’s been a lot of tears shed for sure. 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. It’s really not.”

Van Dyken-Rouen won four gold medals in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, and captured two more at the 2000 Games in Sydney.