sport.wikisort.org - Athlete

Victoria Arlen (born September 26, 1994) is a current television personality for ESPN,[1] as well as an actress, speaker, model, and former American paralympian swimmer.[2]

Victoria Arlen

Victoria Arlen on her road to recovery at Project Walk in San Diego
Personal information
Full name	Victoria Arlen
Nationality	American
Born	(1994-09-26) September 26, 1994 (age 28) Exeter, New Hampshire, U.S.
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Freestyle, breaststroke
Club	North Shore Sharks
Medal record Women's swimming Representing  United States Paralympic Games 2012 London 100 m freestyle S6 2012 London 400 m freestyle S6 2012 London 4x100 m freestyle relay – 34 points 2012 London 50 m freestyle S6

Early life

Victoria Arlen was born in New Hampshire, USA, on September 26, 1994, as one of triplets; she has two brothers. Her father enjoys playing hockey, and her brothers grew up playing it as well.[3]

Arlen, at the age of eleven,[4] developed two rare conditions known as transverse myelitis and acute disseminated encephalomyelitis. This was an extremely rare scenario, and Victoria quickly lost the ability to speak, eat, walk, and move. She slipped into a vegetative state from which recovery was thought unlikely. Arlen spent nearly four years "locked" inside her own body, completely aware of what was going on, just unable to move or communicate. Doctors believed there was little hope of survival, and recovery was unlikely.[5]

In 2010, at age 15, after almost four years, a medication^[which?] eased the seizures and Arlen began to communicate. Arlen began re-learning how to speak, eat, and move.[4]

In June 2012, after a world record-breaking performance at the 2012 Summer Paralympics US swimming trials, Arlen qualified for the 2012 Summer Paralympics held in London, as a member of Team USA. In London, she won four medals: one gold and three silver.[3]

In 2013, she was deemed not disabled enough to compete in the Paralympics because she did not provide significant proof that she has a permanent disability.[6]

Career

In April 2015, Arlen made the transition from professional athlete to sportscaster and joined ESPN as one of the youngest on-air talents hired by the company.[7]

By April 2016, she had learned to walk after spending nearly a decade paralyzed from the waist down.[4] In 2017, she reported having no sensation in her legs.[8]

On September 6, 2017, Arlen was announced as one of the celebrities who would compete on the 25th season of Dancing with the Stars. She was partnered with professional dancer, Valentin Chmerkovskiy.[9] The couple managed to reach the semi-finals, but was ultimately eliminated and placed fifth in the competition.

In 2020, Arlen became a co-host of American Ninja Warrior Junior for its second season, replacing Laurie Hernandez as the latter prepared for the 2020 Summer Olympics before it was postponed to 2021.[10] She is one of the co-hosts of SportsNation (TV Show).

BBC Outlook Weekend related her story in an interview with Harry Graham; Victoria Arlen described being able to hear what others said while she herself could not communicate in any way during her years of the worst phases of the diseases. Strangers were often negative in their assessment of her chance of survival, which words she heard. She described the support of her family as essential in every phase of the diseases and her recovery; they never gave up on her. After a doctor tried a medication that eased the seizures she endured, she gained her first ability to respond in communication with her mother. She had loved to swim before the diseases struck; her brothers took her to a pool to restart her in swimming, well before she could walk. She took up the challenge of swimming in the Paralympics in Summer of 2012, just over a year after her brothers first put her in a pool.[11]

Personal life

Arlen is a Christian. She grew up as a Christian. When she was in her ‘locked-in’ state from her rare conditions, she would pray to God on a daily basis. Arlen spoke of one time when she made a promise to God in prayer for her recovery:

And then I had this moment, and this epiphany if you will, where I realized wait a second, this is not how my story is supposed to end. And so I made a promise with God, 'If you give me this second chance at life, I promise you I will not waste a single moment’.

[12]

She has mentioned the importance of her faith in her life:

My faith is my anchor. It always has been. I am so fortunate to have my faith in my life and to be surrounded by so many spiritual gangsters. To me, my faith is what has kept me strong and filled with hope during some of my toughest battles. It also is my grounding force in my everyday life which nine times out of ten is so busy that my head spins. I am so blessed to live the life I live and I get to do so many incredible things and travel the world. But being in the public eye comes with pressure and a lot of stress at times. It is easy to get caught up in it and it’s easy to be tossed around by the waves of life in general and all the challenges that come with it. My faith allows me to be still and know that God is watching over me and guiding me every step of the way.

[13]

References

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