Victoria Arlen (born September 26, 1994) is a current television personality for
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...
,
as well as an actress, speaker, model, and former American
paralympian
The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...
swimmer.
Early life
Victoria Arlen was born in New Hampshire, USA, on September 26, 1994, as one of triplets; she has two brothers. Her father played hockey for the
Quinnipiac Bobcats
The Quinnipiac Bobcats are the 21 sports teams representing Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut in intercollegiate athletics. The Bobcats compete in the NCAA Division I and are members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, joining on ...
, and her brothers grew up playing it as well.
Arlen, at the age of eleven,
developed two rare conditions known as
transverse myelitis
Transverse myelitis (TM) is a rare neurological condition wherein the spinal cord is Inflammation, inflamed. The adjective ''wikt:transverse#Adjective, transverse'' implies that the spinal inflammation (myelitis) extends horizontally throughout ...
and
acute disseminated encephalomyelitis
Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM), or acute demyelinating encephalomyelitis, is a rare autoimmune disease marked by a sudden, widespread attack of inflammation in the brain and spinal cord. As well as causing the brain and spinal co ...
. 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.
In 2010, at age 15, after almost four years, a medication eased the seizures and Arlen began to communicate. Arlen began re-learning how to speak, eat, and move.
[
In June 2012, after a world record-breaking performance at the ]2012 Summer Paralympics
The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Gam ...
US swimming trials, Arlen qualified for the 2012 Summer Paralympics
The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Gam ...
held in London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, as a member of Team USA. In London, she won four medals: one gold and three silver.
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.
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.
By April 2016, she had learned to walk after spending nearly a decade paralyzed from the waist down.[ In 2017, she reported having no sensation in her legs.
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
Valentin Aleksandrovich "Val" Chmerkovskiy ( uk, Валентин Олександрович "Вал" Чмерковський; born March 24, 1986) is a Ukrainian-American professional dancer, best known for his appearances on the U.S. version ...
. 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
''American Ninja Warrior Junior'' is an American sports competition reality show on Universal Kids that premiered in 2018. It is the children's edition of '' American Ninja Warrior'' and '' American Ninja Warrior: Ninja vs. Ninja'', which themsel ...
'' for its second season, replacing Laurie Hernandez
Lauren Zoe Hernandez (born June 9, 2000) is an American artistic gymnast. During her debut year as a senior gymnast, she competed as a member of the U.S. women's gymnastics team dubbed the " Final Five" at the 2016 Summer Olympics; Ultimately, ...
as the latter prepared for the 2020 Summer Olympics
The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July.
Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...
before it was postponed to 2021. She is one of the co-hosts of SportsNation (TV Show).
BBC Outlook
Outlook or The Outlook may refer to:
Computing
* Microsoft Outlook, an e-mail and personal information management software product from Microsoft
* Outlook.com, a web mail service from Microsoft
* Outlook on the web, a suite of web applications ...
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.
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 prayed to God on a daily basis. She made a promise to God in prayer for her recovery. She has spoken of the importance of her faith in her life.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arlen, Victoria
1994 births
Living people
American disabled sportspeople
Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics
Paralympic gold medalists for the United States
Paralympic silver medalists for the United States
Paralympic swimmers for the United States
People from Exeter, New Hampshire
S6-classified para swimmers
Sportspeople from Rockingham County, New Hampshire
Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Paralympics
Swimmers from Massachusetts
Swimmers from New Hampshire
Triplets
World record holders in paralympic swimming
Paralympic medalists in swimming
American female freestyle swimmers
People who awoke from permanent coma like states