Olympian Who Severed Her Spine Sits Up

Six-time Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer Amy Van Dyken Rouen is on the mend and in remarkably good spirits after severing her spine in an all-terrain vehicle crash. Her long-term prognosis is still unclear, but she has posted photos of herself smiling and sitting up in her hospital bed on her Instagram account, reports the BBC. "Doing great today," wrote the 41-year-old, whose spinal cord was severed at the T11 vertebrae, which came within millimeters of rupturing her aorta.

The swimmer will be transferred from Arizona to a hospital in Colorado next week for rehabilitation, her husband tells the Denver Post. She's looking forward to being near friends and family, and "to being back in that Mile High air," he says. "She's going to tackle this like everything else she does in her life." On social media, she has thanked her fans for all their support. "Just thinking out loud. ... Now I will get really good seats at @dbacks and other favorite sports teams. #awesome #bringMyOwnChair #goodParking2," she tweeted yesterday. (More Amy Van Dyken Rouen stories.)