The 23-year-old, ESPN personality, Victoria Arlen, who now stars on the show "Dancing with the Stars," say that the show is putting her in a lot of pain from the disease that she had when she was younger. Arlen’s sickness has brought her many troubles and lots of time spent in the hospital, yet, all of the troubles have made her the strong woman she is today. She has fought harder than ever and will never stop fighting!

Arlen’s medical history

Right around the time, Victoria Arlen was turning eleven she was diagnosed with transverse myelitis and acute disseminated encephalomyelitis.

This is a rare disease caused by inflammation of the spinal cord and brain. Arlen struggled for a long time while in the hospital. For two years she was unconscious and watched her body die out. Arlen has no recollection of these two years. She thought that her fifteenth birthday was going to be her last but just after she slowly gained back control of her body and she said that she never gave up hope. Dying would have been the easy way out, but, the fight was worth the life she lives today. For the next couple years, she spends giving every ounce of energy to saving her life and focusing on the positive. She then went on to swim in the 2012 Paralympic games in London as a swimmer. This lead to her job at ESPN.

She was bullied in high school for being in a wheelchair so she was determined to walk again. She was determined to learn how to walk again. She had been through therapy for ten years and then the work finally paid off. She started to gain feeling in her legs again with no progress a miracle happened and it all came at once.

She started to adjust to her life as a taller stable human. Although those may have been the worst years, she would never change what happened to her because it made her who she is and that strong woman she is today. After this Arlen was determined to help others be as strong as her and learn to fight for everything you have because life truly is beautiful!

The next stage of life: DWTS

Now Arlen is on the popular show "Dancing With The Stars." Her and her partner, Val, are doing great. They have been dancing their hearts out but Arlen has been having complications with her back spasms. She says that walking is not as easy as it was before and her legs are often very tired after dancing. She is very thankful for the time that she has spent on the show and all of the wonderful people she has met. Although it is not easy the fact she has the opportunity to even get up and dance at all is a blessing in itself.
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