A year and a day after her spinal cord was severed in a near-fatal all-terrain-vehicle accident, six-time Olympic gold medalist Amy Van Dyken-Rouen continued down the road of recovery by throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at Sunday's Diamondbacks-Mets game as part of Disabilities Awareness Day at Chase Field.
"We're celebrating that I'm still here and I'm alive to enjoy this," Van Dyken-Rouen told FOX Sports Arizona's Kate Longworth. "It's a whole new life. If you just take it for that, I think it will be good. Don't worry about the past, it's done, it's over with."
Van Dyken-Rouen, who won her gold medals in swimming in 1996 and 2000, has recently begun swimming as part of her rehabilitation. She made good on her vow to avoid one-hopping the first pitch to Robbie Ray from her custom purple wheelchair.
"The last year has been amazing," she said. "Yes, there have been really hard times, but I've also had some really, really great times."
If those words seem hard to believe, just check out her reaction. Nice pitch, Amy.
