Paralympian medallist regains use of legs after crash; may never compete in Paralympics again

http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/C...

Two-time Paralympic silver medallist (Beijing 2008) Monique van der Vorst, 28, suffered a cycling collision in 2010 that left her with a slight tingling in her feet. Paralyzed from the waist down since the age of 13, the use of her legs slowly returned over the course of months in the hospital. Doctors are unable to explain the phenomenon.

Now fully able-bodied, the Paralympic future of van der Vorst—the first handcycle athlete to win the 2009 Ironman world championship—is in jeopardy. With no sign of her previous paralysis returning and her strength growing, the reality of her being forever unqualified for future Paralympic events looks unavoidable.

Never one to be deterred from pursuing her athletic career however, van der Dorst, elected Dutch disabled athlete of the year in 2009, has taken the change in stride and signed with an able-bodied cycling team. While it is a near certainty that she will never compete in the Paralympics again, van der Dorst has begun training to compete in the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

Hopefully the drugs they used while she's disabled wont be a problem for her in her Olympic dreams.

I read that story couple days ago. I loved it. Can´t imagine what must be going on in her head.

Kinda reminds a bit of LOST. Trivial, I know, but it did.

I thought for a moment that this was an article from the Onion.

Well, given the choice between being a world-class athlete without the use of my legs, and a so-so athlete WITH them, I know which I'd choose, and would do so in a heartbeat. But it might not be that easy for everyone.

Gravey wrote:

With no sign of her previous paralysis returning and her strength growing, the reality of her being forever unqualified for future Paralympic events looks unavoidable.

It's not unavoidable. Tell her to go ask the guy in the Post a Picture thread who tried jumping on a table and probably lost the use of his legs for his efforts. If she was really committed, she could be a paralympian in no time.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

I thought for a moment that this was an article from the Onion.

There was the temptation to embellish my summary with some fiction (e.g. "It's always a tragedy when a Paralympian in her prime is suddenly unable to compete," commented Sir Philip Craven, president of the International Paralympic Committee), but it's crazy enough that I only have to spin the facts from the article!

Coldstream wrote:
Gravey wrote:

With no sign of her previous paralysis returning and her strength growing, the reality of her being forever unqualified for future Paralympic events looks unavoidable.

It's not unavoidable. Tell her to go ask the guy in the Post a Picture thread who tried jumping on a table and probably lost the use of his legs for his efforts. If she was really committed, she could be a paralympian in no time.

The IPC has cracked down on able-bodied athletes purposefully paralyzing themselves in order to compete in the Paralympics with an unfair advantage (known as "rope-a-doping"), so I think van der Dorst is unfortunately out of luck with getting her disabled athletic career back on track.

Okay, a little bullsh*t there. But the rest is fact!

I'm pretty much a "roll with the punches" kind of guy. I want something, it becomes unattainable, I find something new to conquer.

So I think that if my body were like, "Screw this, we're walking again, you lazy bastard", I'd be like, "Okay, next goal, Dancing with the Stars" or something. The fact that any of the wording makes this seem "sad" is weird to me.

I am reminded of the phrase "alms for an ex-leper".

Seriously though, the human body never ceases to amaze me.

A weird situation. Has to come as more than a little bit of a shock to find out you can't keep doing what you've been pouring your whole life into for years. On the other hand, I can't imagine the amazement of "OMG, my body just started... working again?!?"

InspectorFowler wrote:

The fact that any of the wording makes this seem "sad" is weird to me.

That's the joke. /McBain

The linked article is normal newspaper writing, but the OP is all me.

InspectorFowler wrote:

I'm pretty much a "roll with the punches" kind of guy. I want something, it becomes unattainable, I find something new to conquer.

So I think that if my body were like, "Screw this, we're walking again, you lazy bastard", I'd be like, "Okay, next goal, Dancing with the Stars" or something. The fact that any of the wording makes this seem "sad" is weird to me.

You're absolutely right.

BREAK HER LEGS!

(but seriously, this is awesome and becoming unparalyzed must be like winning all of the medals in life at all Olympics)

ClockworkHouse wrote:

I thought for a moment that this was an article from the Onion.

That was my thought, this is a text-book example of Onion humour... but it's real!