# Amy Van Dyken paralyzed

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-van-dyken-paralyzed/690536>\
**Category:** The Game Room\
**Created:** [June 11, 2014, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-van-dyken-paralyzed/690536 "2014-06-11T13:29:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\
**Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-van-dyken-paralyzed/690536/1 "2014-06-11T13:29:04Z")

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Six Olympic gold medals in swimming. Apparently a happy married life after retiring. Now a T11 paraplegic after [severing her spinal cord in an ATV crash in Arizona](http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2014/06/09/amy-van-dyken-severs-spine-atv-accident/10246787/).

Stay strong.

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**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\
**Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-van-dyken-paralyzed/690536/2 "2014-06-11T13:46:55Z")

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But only stupid, careless people get hurt on ATVs. Says right here in the booster literature.

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**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\
**Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-van-dyken-paralyzed/690536/3 "2014-06-11T15:44:28Z")

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Witnesses say she hit a curb hard and flew off the ATV. It’s hard to picture how that results in a T11 fracture, and a bit scary because it’s thus hard to see how one guards against it. She had no helmet, but it doesn’t sound like one would have protected her.

One article I saw mentioned that when her husband got to her, he lifted her head in an attempt to have her respond. That seems like a natural response, and I assume that the nature of her injury much lower on her back means that moving her neck would not have worsened her injury, but I shuddered when I read that.

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**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\
**Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amy-van-dyken-paralyzed/690536/4 "2014-06-11T19:25:58Z")

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Yikes. Sorry to hear this. Poor lady.