Miracle? Paralympian Has Paralysis ‘Cured’ After Getting in Accident
- Posted on December 9, 2011 at 5:47pm by
Liz Klimas
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(Photo: Monique van der Vorst)
Since age 13, Monique van der Vorst from the Netherlands has been paralyzed. She’s made the most of it though winning the silver medal twice in the Paralympics for hand cycling, but it seems she will no longer be able to compete in the upcoming 2012 Paralympics. Why? Because she is no longer paralyzed.
Watch the ITN News report about how van der Vorst’s paralysis was reversed after a crash with a bicyclist:
Now that van der Vorst, 27, isn’t eligible to participate in the Paralympics, she is training as a bicyclist for the 2016 Olympics.
(Photo: Monique van der Vorst)
Doctors have lots of questions, though, about van der Vorst’s miraculous recovery, according to MSNBC, stating that it is unlikely a crash would have allowed her to reverse paralysis after losing all feeling:
Van der Vorst’s doctors haven’t been able to come up with an explanation for her miraculous recovery — and neither could any of the doctors interviewed by msnbc.com.
With the caveat that it’s impossible to comment on a specific patient without seeing actual medical records, physicians agreed that it was unlikely that anyone who had lost all feeling in their lower extremities could be healed by being hit hard in an accident.
“I have never heard of a case of damage to the spinal cord where someone lost feeling and strength in their legs and then had a second accident that gave them feeling back,” said Dr. Michael Boninger, professor and chair of the department of physical medicine and rehabilitation at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and director of the rehabilitation institute at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. “The fundamental truth is that accidents don’t cause damaged nerve cells to regenerate.”
Still, Boninger added, “I would have to also say that there’s a lot in medicine that we don’t know and a lot we have yet to learn.”
It seems that van der Vorst’s paralysis or loss of feeling in her legs amounted from two events in her life: nerve damage after an ankle operation and a later car accident resulting in spinal damage.
MSNBC reports a neurologist saying that patients with spinal damage who are likely to recover are those who have some feeling and movement after a spinal injury. Dr. Bruce Dobkin, professor of neurology and director of the Neurologic Rehabilitation and Research Program at the University of California, Los Angeles, added that some nerves can regenerate, but can take years to regrow.
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Comments (66)
The Real TJB
Posted on December 10, 2011 at 12:46pm“With my family we tried everything possible, but my leg was paralyzed. So at one point, there is no longer any use to look for medical explanations”. So she never got the exact medical details. She declined the AP’s request to talk to her doctors from the late 1990s, citing privacy concerns.”
“Privacy concerns”??? Oh ok. We’ll just take your word for it.
http://www.sfexaminer.com/news/2010/12/paralympians-recovery-legs-regained-dreams-lost#ixzz1g9elk6OU
Report Post »LouC57
Posted on December 10, 2011 at 6:42pmMiracles happen, baby. ;)
Report Post »Cesium
Posted on December 11, 2011 at 1:47pmThere is a serious psychosomatic disorder called Somotoform disorder that can arise through trauma. They did a nice comic rendition of this very real disorder in the movie “Talladega Nights”
Report Post »spfoam1
Posted on December 10, 2011 at 10:10amIf her legs have been useless since age 13 she shouldn’t even be able to stand up. After such a long period with no use, the muscles would have no tone and little mass. I say something is very fishy here. How long before she could stand up? Surely she didn’t instantly have balance and enough muscle strength to lift that 3 wheeler and pose for the picture. Miracle? that’s nice to think about, but I doubt it.
Report Post »Xyskalla
Posted on December 10, 2011 at 11:20amWatch the video closely. It doesn’t say she walked immediately. It said that while she was recovering from the crash, she felt “sensations in her legs”. I’m sure that walking came much later.
I’m less skeptical about this than you because something similar happened to me years ago, though on a much smaller scale. After a car accident in 1983, I had frequent back pains. The pain was usually mild and far from debilitating. After a second car accident 10 years later, the pain grew severe for about a week, but once it cleared up, my back pains were gone permanently. I never would have believed it if I hadn’t experienced it myself, so I understand your skepticism.
Report Post »The Real TJB
Posted on December 10, 2011 at 12:47pmYep. Fake.
Report Post »kindling
Posted on December 10, 2011 at 10:34pmI must agree. She should have had to go through a lot of rehab to get them to work again. I think there is something not being told here. I bet they learn she was lying and gets all her awards taken.
Report Post »john13579
Posted on December 10, 2011 at 9:53amA story like this would not be a surprise to a chiropractor. I’d like to know if she ever saw one after her accident.
All the nerves travel through the spine. A spine that is not properly aligned can either block nerve impulses or over-stimulate nerve impulses. It’s quite possible that the accidents moved the spine, and the recent crash reversed it.
Report Post »MrObvious
Posted on December 10, 2011 at 12:24pmSort of an accidental adjustment.
Report Post »ralph nix
Posted on December 10, 2011 at 2:13amI believe it is quite possible that she regained the use of her legs. It seems it would have taken several weeks for her legs to regain the strength to walk very far. But, we haven’t been told all of the story.
Report Post »kindling
Posted on December 10, 2011 at 10:38pmIf she really did not have any use of her legs for all those years it would take way more than weeks to be able to stand on them again. I would think it would be at least a year to be able to use them fully and have all the tone back.
Report Post »FORLORNHOPE
Posted on December 10, 2011 at 2:13amI was in a motorcycle accident I broke my back. I was paralyzed from the waste down. The nerves were not severed they were only bruised. With in 3 weeks I was moving my toes, a month later my legs were moving, it hurt but it took about 4 or 5 months to walk again. It still hurts if I don’t exercise everyday. If your nerves are severed they will not grow back or regenerate, period! If they are bruised or maybe pinched then the 2nd accident could un-pinched the nerve, it would explain the feeling returning to her legs. A good ortho doc should have been able to help her a long time ago if the nerves were not severed. If she had gone to a good capitalist hospital she might have been walking within 4 months of the 1st accident.
Report Post »wellitsallright
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 11:46pmTo everyone trying to say this is fake, please do your own research on this as well. You could visit her website which explains more about her: http://www.moniquevandervorst.com/Monique_Van_Der_Vorst/About_Me.html
It took her over 1 year to regain use of her legs. She has worked hard her whole life and I’m glad she will be able to use her legs again. She is a true inspiration to people everywhere, and this is someone you need to tell your kids about. She works hard and she does not give up.
As she said on her website, “If you don’t like something, change it, if you can’t change it, change your attitude, but don’t complain…”
Report Post »spfoam1
Posted on December 10, 2011 at 10:27amHow would anyone know any information beyond the story? A comment based on the story is just that. Knowing it took a year to regain use of her legs changes the situation. Based on the content of this story, it looks fake. Thanks for the link.
Report Post »The Real TJB
Posted on December 10, 2011 at 12:36pmSo your linking her own website as “proof”??
Paleeze
Report Post »David, the Constitutional Libertarian
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 9:28pmWhy are you posting articles using MSNBC as a source?
MSNBC is a propaganda channel funded by GE and taxpayer dollars. Why is the site using them here? Attempting to give credence to LSDNC?
Pffft, if I wanted to hear from LSDNC, I would have Huffington Post bookmarked.
Report Post »UrbanCombatSurvivor
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 10:01pmI hate to agree with you here, but you’re right. I have also noticed that certain “journalists” on the Blaze have been changing the content over the past few months, and that all articles by those “journalists” seem to be heavily skewed.
I was very happy with the Blaze, and it’s content and editorial style when it first started. It seems, however, to be slowly morphing into another Huffington post for some reason. I hope it is corrected before I have to start dismissing stories on here as quickly as I do AP stories…
Integrity in my news sources is very important to me, and I will not dismiss what appears to be a loss of that integrity past a certain point.
Report Post »FreedomPurveyor
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 10:18pmIt is inevitable that the temptation to utilize the influence of a popular news source, to promote one’s views, will result in biased reporting.
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 9:25pmTwo negatives… do make… a positive!
Report Post »drmarkr
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 9:20pmFraud. Most likely psychogenic “paralysis” to begin with.
Report Post »BOsux
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 9:13pmobviously my examples are different, but I think relate…My mom had a very wonky heart beat for a couple of years. she got stung on the foot by a scorpion and voila, her heartbeat was shocked back into a normal rhythm. My nephew had ambliopia in his eyes. He got an eye infection and it cause something to happen and improved his vision. Color blindness can be cured in animals the by infecting their eyes with a virus. Does something to the rods or cones. Causes the eye to create new normal ones. We don‘t know everything about the body and it’s healing capabilities. Maybe this did happen exactly as she said. I’ve seen and heard of miracles. I’m not going to discount this as a possibility. Seems rather arrogant to me.
Report Post »UrbanCombatSurvivor
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 10:04pmI bet everyone has stories similar to yours here. I don’t doubt that things like this article reports can happen, though I highly suspect the source of the article, and so I know I can’t believe that it was reported completely or accurately.
Still, I’m sure we all know someone who had something suddenly “cured” in a weird way. I remember reading about someone who was in the final stages of MS and got struck by lightning in their wheel chair in their own kitchen during a storm, which completely cured the MS…
Report Post »djaymid
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 8:52pmI am not an athiest, I am a Christian…I am married to a doctor!!! This seems like a fraud! It is an undeniable scientific FACT that your muscles WILL atrophy if you do not use them…because “what you don’t use, you lose”. With just that fact alone, if someone was paralyzed for 14 years…even if a blow/accident brought ALL feeling back into her legs, she’d still have to build those muscles back up and learn how to walk again….where’s the story on that! You can’t just stand up and say,“I can walk”…all of a sudden…she was benefitting as a paralympic athlete with endorsements, training, money, attention,etc…why NOT fake paralyzation to get ahead…that is what it seems like to me! And now all of a sudden she wants to use those new legs of her to be an olympic cyclist! I just am not buying it!
Report Post »UrbanCombatSurvivor
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 10:06pmPlease remember, this is an MSNBC article. Like an AP article, you have to assume that it was very poorly reported and written.
In effect, the article doesn’t say how long it has been since this girl regained feeling. MSNBC always skews their articles, and does sloppy work…
Report Post »JL320
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 11:50pmYour husband being a doctor doesn’t mean a whole lot. Doctors are very smart people, but the truth is doctors know only a small percentage of how the human body works. Sure they are great for treating symptoms, but when it comes to why a human body does things they are for the most part clueless. I have only met a couple of doctors in my entire life that I really trust. Most will just throw pills at you trying to relieve a symptom, which only causes even worse problems in the future! How many drugs do you see being recalled every year? I don’t want to come off as bashing doctors. They save peoples lives, and they are extremely smart people, but I can’t stand arrogant doctors that act like they know everything. Sure they know more then the rest of us, but in the whole they only know a very small percentage about our bodies.
Report Post »His_Way
Posted on December 11, 2011 at 12:44am@ But I’m married to a Doctor!!
“It is an undeniable scientific FACT that your muscles WILL atrophy if you do not use them.”
Yes, in most cases, but not all cases. I care for my quadriplegic brother. He broke his neck at age 17. For over 30 years he has had no use at all of his legs and almost no use of his arms except for random but very strong muscle spasms in his legs. But, because of only those spasms, most of his leg muscles are incredibly strong and tone. Unfortunatly, for this story, I have not found other articles available with any real medical facts to answer basic questions about her injury, only “a sensational recovery”.
And okay, most of us here are just simply expressing our humble opinions with a few interesting facts. But others, too frequently, boast from on high, with the greatest of certainty and superiority that only their reality could be the last and only truth. That attitude gets a little tiring.
I am very interested in this story but dissappointed that I cannot find any real medical facts about her injury, a sensational media story.Okay, most of us here are just expressing opinions, feedback and some facts, then too many others boast with the greatest of certainty and their from the view on high, their humble opinion as the last fact.
Report Post »His_Way
Posted on December 11, 2011 at 12:52amWow, how did that last paragraph get there? Ooopsy~~sometimes I think my computer is possessed but I guess I‘m just an overworked insomniac who’s “losing/lost it” Oh well.
Report Post »Bdizzle McHammerpants
Posted on December 11, 2011 at 12:25pmI’m not sure how “I’m not an atheist, I’m a Christian.” is even relevent to the story? Does the fact that you are a christian make you a subject matter expert on paralysis?
Report Post »Scooder
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 8:26pmThe thing is, if you don’t use a muscle over a period of time it will atrophy. You would then need quite a bit of rehab to get enough muscle strength to even move you’re legs let alone stand on them. I believe in miracles but something just does not seem right here.
Report Post »DefeatSocialismNow
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 8:49pmWhat about Adam on “Little House on the Prairie”? He regained his sight after an accident…
Maybe its as real as that?!?
Report Post »Plan B
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 9:12pmYou are wrong. My son was quad, and eventually was able to stand and pivot to help me get him in and out of his chair. The therapy and exercising this gird did could still have kept her musles from atrophy. Look up standing frames, locomat and wearable therapy. My son was paralized for 5 years and after 3 twenty minute sessions with axiobionics, he was able to open and clothes his hand. You have no idea what types of therapy there is out there…..
Report Post »Brooke Lorren
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 7:46pmAlways great to hear about miracles like this.
Report Post »eaglescout1998
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 7:16pmI think I saw something similar to this in an episode of “House” once.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNR_(House)
Report Post »blaaaaackwoman
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 7:04pmWell now I’m a gonna go hit that damn husband of mine in the penis with a hammer. Knock some life into it.
Report Post »COFemale
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 7:30pmYeah, I guess that is one way to get it to swell up.
Report Post »rdietz7
Posted on December 10, 2011 at 11:03pmHaha that’s sic!
Report Post »kfalcon22000
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 6:38pmIt sounds to me that she did not have spinal damage, but rather had a displacement of a vertebrae. She didn’t need any quack doctors. She needed a chiropractor.
I had my own experiences where I was in agony because of back pain from the time I was 13. All the doctors that I saw just gave me motrin. When I was 21, I saw a chiropractor and he fixed me in just a couple of minutes. When it comes to the spine, I don’t trust any doctor.
Report Post »JRHelgeson
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 7:15pmIs this is the part where we will start to see miracles happen? Seems pretty miraculous to me.
Report Post »John 1776
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 8:52pmYea, my wife had a lot of problems including partial paralysis and after going to a dozen doctors that all said, “That’s just the way it is”, she went to a chiropractor. That fixed things. We know so little about how the body really works, and sometimes doctors can just be too arrogant to admit they don’t have all the answers.
Report Post »slvrserfr
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 6:37pmIf you haven’t been using your legs for a prolonged period of time, it would take quite a bit of rehab to regain feeling and strength in your legs again. I smell a fraud.
Report Post »wianno94
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 6:28pmI’m with Randy. Tell me what she was like before the crash. Tell me how long after the crash did she regain use of her legs.
Report Post »PATRIOTGRUNT
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 6:19pmThere is a lot in medicine that can’t be explained. Why are people alive that were diagnosed with terminal cancer and survived, why a blind person recovered his / her sight after injury to the head ?. Why a person pronounced dead recover and lived ?. I think it’s called a Miracle by the grace of G_D. Nothing new here.
Report Post »Chuck Stein
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 7:07pmYup. Miracles do happen. Agnostics & atheists love to point out the hoaxes (and there are many) — and they will point out “possibilities” and “chance” when they cannot SHOW a hoax. As the “possible” non-miraculous explanations diminish, the atheists’ FAITH (in the absence of deity) becomes more and more clear.
Report Post »your sensei
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 8:20pmReally. Why do people get terminal cancer? Why do people go blind? Why are kids stillborn? There’s only one possible explanation, It’s the hand of God.
Report Post »Starkadder
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 9:48pmnotmy sensei
Silly little mind numbed robot.
Ecclesiastes 3
1To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
2A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
3A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
Turn, turn, turn Baby!
Report Post »your sensei
Posted on December 10, 2011 at 9:44amDARKLADDER . . . Don’t abuse yourself with that godless tripe popularized by drug-addled hippies and their devil music.
Report Post »Starkadder
Posted on December 10, 2011 at 1:20pmNotmysensei
I’m fairly certain the Old Testament was around long before The Byrds.
Ecclesiastes is generally attributed to Solomon (approximately between the years 971 and 931 B.C.)
Some scholers however point to language usage that indicates it may have been penned as late as 570 B.C.
You asked three pointed questions and I provided a solid scriptural based answer.
Report Post »You come onto this forum flaunting your Atheism then try to blame stuff on God.
If you don’t beleive in God why do you blame Him?
If you really blame Him and weren’t attempting sarcasm (as I believe you were) then the final arbiter on God is His Word and I provided you with the proper place to seek your answer.
If you were indeed being sarcastic, then grow a sense of humor. Turn, turn , turn Baby ( you can’t take what you dish out?)
Your anti christaian hate is unbecoming of someone who alleges intellegence.
Hate is ugly no matter what its source.
your sensei
Posted on December 10, 2011 at 3:20pmSNARKFADDER . . . This will only take a second. Yes, chronology. n deed. You’ll notice I said “popularized” not “authored by – not a subtle distinction for the attentive. And you assume I am an atheist. I am not. You want me to be, but I must disappoint you in that as well.
But as long as we’re on the subject of appearances, allow me to offer that which at least enjoys some persuasive indiction from you precious post – that you appear to be intellectually lazy and presumptuous.
Report Post »deeberj
Posted on December 12, 2011 at 9:53amNosense – here you go again. On the attack. Go back under your bridge.
Report Post »COFemale
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 6:17pmWhen will people realize that 1. Doctors are not God. 2. Doctors do not know everything. 3. God works in mysterious ways.
To those who don’t buy this, why? State your reasons. If she was not paralyzed why would she “pretend” all these years? This should be some good answers (sarcasm).
Report Post »yourefunny
Posted on December 10, 2011 at 3:52am1 Timothy 2:12
Report Post »AmericanVet
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 6:15pmA good scientist must ALWAYS question what he thinks he knows. That’s the basis of the scientific process.
And seriously folks..The Blaze FINALLY posts some good news and y’all are already bickering and downplaying the story??
Report Post »Countrygirl1362
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 6:14pmThe final goal is the cure, not the diagnosis. Better a cured patient with no diagnosis than an autopsied patient with exact diagnosis.
Sad that if the doctors cannot find a reason, they don’t understand.
Report Post »momrules
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 6:10pmMiracles do happen. Doctor and scientists are human and don’t know everthing even though some of them think they do.
Report Post »Now there will be some who say she was just faking being crippled for 14 years. I prefer to give glory to God for the marvelous creation……the human body.
The Real TJB
Posted on December 10, 2011 at 12:40pmMiracles are for children stories. This ain’t one.
Report Post »randy
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 6:06pmSorry, not buying this…..
Report Post »TXPilot
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 6:14pmI think I saw this on an episode of Family Guy….if so, she better beware of a fat guy driving a station wagon, if she wants to keep walking.
Report Post »Jubarnes87
Posted on December 10, 2011 at 1:28am@TX….HA HA, one of my favorite episodes. “it’s the end of the world as we know it” car crash ensues, kayak team comes by with the coach yelling “stroke stroke stroke” Peter: STOP MOCKING ME!
Report Post »Thevoice
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 5:56pmGreat…Now if she were smart she would ride her bike off the street …Before she gets hit by one of those european left lane drivers …Jeez….
Report Post »skitrees
Posted on December 9, 2011 at 6:02pmSorry, “THEVOICE” – don’t mean to burst your bubble, but most of Europe drives on the right side like we do…it’s the Brits who have it backwards. :^)>>>
As per the story…the truth is staring these doctors and scientists right in the face, and yet they still say what happened to reverse the condition simply cannot be; yet it plainly IS. Wouldn’t you think a good thing to do at that time would be to question what you think you know?!
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