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. >>> just over five weeks ago, orm olympic swimmer amy van dyken-rouen suffered a severe spinal injuryccident that left her partially paralyzed. and now she's learning to do some things for the first time again. barry petersen reports. >> reporter: on her first trip to a grocery store to learn how to shop in a wheelchair, it is clear there is only one word to describe amy van dyken-rouen. irrepressible. it's another moment of progress. >> yeah. >> reporter: do you feel good about this? >> especially since i can reach the top without have-xing for help. >> reporter: and another word, discipline. the time it took a kid with asthma to train and win six olympic gold medals. the time it takes to create a new life with husband tom rouen after an atv accident 18 months left her a paraplegic. you use the word fun which really doesn't come to mind. why fun for you? >> it has to be fun. this is my new life. i have no other choice. this is what happened to me. i'm a paraplegic, i had fun before in my life. this new life has to be fun as well. so fun, fun, it is. >> reporter: where is the nerve sy

amy van dyken-rouen suffered a severe atv accident that left her in a wheelchair. greatest out of the water. >> reporter: if you understand amy van dyken begins with her optimism. >> i never say what if i never say poor me. happened to me because it did. the what ifs are too late. let's move on let's move forward. you know i love being alive that's basically the bottom line. >> reporter: optimism that did not fail her after an atv accident a month ago that left her a paraplegic and it was there for her husband tom rouen after her emergency surgery she might not have survived. >> one of the first things after the surgery you said to her, are you okay with this? >> and i said absolutely. really there are two times when i found her and again after surgery. those two times she might not have made it. >> reporter: her days now are about learning how to do things in a wheelchair like grocery shopping. she calls it scary but also her word -- >> good how are you? >> reporter: -- "fun." you used the word "fun" which really doesn't come to mind. why fun for you? >> it has to

a grocery store to learn how to shop in a wheelchair, there's only one word to describe amy van dyke dyken-rouenike it? >> i can't reach the top stuff. >> come on legs. >> shethe kind it takes to be an athlete with asthma. a new life she calls scary but fun. >> you use the word "fun," which really doesn't come to mind. why fun for you. >> it has to be fun. this is my new life. i have no other choice. this is what's happened to me. i'm a paraplegic. i had fun before in my life. this new life has to be fun as well. so fun. fun it is. >> where is the nerve system that gets severed? >> it's right in here. >> reporter: spinal cord specialist is amy's doctor. there may be improvements in the months ahead but he also had a medical reality check. >> she can't necessarily affect that just by her own sheer will. like i say, if she could, her spinal cord would be healed by now. >> she'd have walked out already. >> i thing she would, if it were that simple. >> reporter: her goal now is that her new life helps others. already paraplegics have sent messages saying she is an inspiration to their own healing. s