Olympic swimmer Amy Van Dyken-Rouen sits up in hospital for 1st time since ATV accident

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FILE - In this July 24, 1996 file photo, Amy Van Dyken of the United States swims her leg of the women\'s 4X100 meter medley relay at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Van Dyken has a severed spine after an accident on her all-terrain vehicle in Arizona. A hospital spokeswoman didn\'t provide details Monday on the injuries. The swimmer was hurt Friday night, June 6, 2014, and told emergency workers at the scene she could not move her toes or feel anything touching her legs. (AP Photo/Denis Paquin, File)

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Six-time Olympic gold-medal swimmer Amy Van Dyken-Rouen sat up in her hospital bed for the first time since she severed her spinal cord in an all-terrain vehicle accident over the weekend.

Van Dyken-Rouen posted a photo on Instagram on Tuesday of her sitting up, with message thanking everyone for their thoughts and prayers.

The 41-year-old swimmer was injured Friday night when she hit a curb while riding an ATV and flew off a drop-off between 5 and 7 feet. Van Dyken-Rouen told emergency workers on the scene that she could not move her toes or feel anything on her legs.

Van Dyken-Rouen’s family said she severed her spinal cord at the T11 vertebrae and the broken vertebrae came within millimeters of rupturing her aorta.

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