Victoria Arlen - Locked In: The Will to Survive and the Resolve to Live

Thank you for downloading this Simon & Schuster ebook.

Get a FREE ebook when you join our mailing list. Plus, get updates on new releases, deals, recommended reads, and more from Simon & Schuster. Click below to sign up and see terms and conditions.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP

Already a subscriber? Provide your email again so we can register this ebook and send you more of what you like to read. You will continue to receive exclusive offers in your inbox.

For my mummy,

You truly are the wind beneath my wings.

Despite insurmountable odds and devastation,

your support, love, and faith in me and God never wavered.

You are my hero, always have been and always will be.

Its been quite the journey and its only just the beginning.

I love you more than you will ever know.

Thank you for never giving up on me.

Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

L UKE 23:34

BY VALENTIN CHMERKOVSKIY

You have a very special young woman as your partner this season, said my executive producers on Dancing with the Stars . Its going to be a little different for you, and were very excited. I was about to walk into a small ballroom dance studio in Beverly Hills to meet my Season 25 celebrity partner for the reality TV show where Im a professional dancer. I had no idea what to expect.

As much as I love the show and everyone I work with, I also know that Hollywood doesnt always get excited for the same reasons I do. I nervously nodded a simple awesome to the producers, but in my head I was asking a million questions. What do they mean, different? Different how? What is so different about this partner that I havent seen during the twelve seasons Ive been on the show? I would quickly find out.

I walked through the door, stepped onto the wooden parquet of the humble little ole dance studio, and caught my first sight of a beautiful young woman who stood in the center of the room. She was obviously excited with anticipation and glowing with enthusiasm.

Hi, Im Val, I said, starting things off as simply as I could.

Im Victoria, she replied.

So tell me a little about yourself, I said. Well be spending quite a bit of time together in the next few months.

That was putting it mildly. On DWTS the celebrities and professional partners train almost daily for three months even before the show begins. My style of coaching can be quite intense, with a very challenging rehearsal regimen. Nothing about what was to come would be easy for any celebrity.

Well, Im a Paralympic gold medalist, she replied, with a mix of pride and humility that was really very touching.

Para -lympian?! I thought to myself, more than slightly baffled. Where was the para? In front of me stood a perfectly healthy, strong, vibrant girl, no different from any other twenty-three-year-old Ive danced with before. What I had never seen before were Victorias huge, extremely expressive, deep brown eyesthey were really quite exceptional.

I dont mean to come across as rude, I said, but why para?

The conversation that ensued and the experience I would go on to share with Victoria Arlen would change my life forever. I soon came to understand what was so special about her. It wasnt just her ability to rise above any challenge placed in front of her, including the years of paralysis that hit her beginning at age eleven, with loss of speech, loss of hearing, and finally loss of consciousness. What made Victoria special was her response to those early challenges, when someone with a less fierce sense of determination might have been tempted to give up. She never did, and neither did her strong, amazing parents.

Well, even though she still had not fully recovered feeling in her legs, Victoria had just signed on for yet another challenge, which was learning to do the Argentine tango with me. Over the course of the months we rehearsed and performed together, I discovered the source of this young womans strength, which was quite simply her unquenchable love of life. She loved life so much that it amounted to her particular superpower. She simply refused to be defeated, no matter what obstacles were thrown in her way. Victorias one-of-a-kind perspective on life taught me the greatest lesson anyone could ever teach someone: Dont take a single breath for granted.

In this book, you will get to know a girl from an ordinary family who was placed in the most extraordinary circumstances imaginable. Instead of giving up, Victoria, her mother, and her father chose to fight on for dear life, literally. She is not just an American hero for her medals in the Paralympics. Shes a human hero for her triumphs over something that universally unites us, our mortality and the fight for life. Theres no greater example of the human spirit than that, no better demonstration of strength in family and faith. Victorias story will inspire you with a sense of purpose, helping to ignite a passion and appreciation for life that you may never have thought possible.

Im incredibly grateful to have been Victorias partner on DWTS, thankful to her family for sharing her with me, and actually indebted to the whole wide universe for putting us together. Victoria allowed me to be a small part of her incredible story, one that will certainly leave a mark on the world. Reading her story, I think youll come to respect, honor, and love this woman just as I did, and cherish the opportunity to get to know her.

Valentin Chmerkovskiy

January 2009

I hear commotion in the darkness. I gasp for air, but I feel like Im drowning. A strong pressure crushes my chest, forcing my lungs to contract against my will.

Air!

I need air!

I need to breathe!

Somebody, please help me!

Machines urgently ping. Panicked voices shout all around me. Suddenly, bright light blinds me as I struggle to grab whatever is down my throat. I realize my arms are strapped down and cant move. Multiple hands hold down my convulsing body, and my bed is being quickly pushed through a white-walled hallway at an alarmingly fast speed.

You are okay, Victoria, I hear over and over again. Im confused. All I can think is BREATHE! And then, I plunge again into total darkness.

My eyes open to searing bright light, and I hear a loud, screeching noise. My body begins to shake uncontrollably, and a painful electricity surges through my body, causing it to convulse and thrash about. I see strangers running into the room, yelling. Their voices sound scared; their hands push me down.

As the seizure subsides, I try to get my bearings.

Where am I?

Brightly colored balloons are tied to my bed, and several stuffed animals are around the room. My vision is blurry, but as I focus my eyes, I see cheery cards and posters on the wall, saying, We love you. Get well. We miss you. Stay strong.

Why would anyone say they miss me?

Where have I been?

Get well?

Stay strong?

Whats wrong with me?

I feel fine.

I dont get it.

Where am I?

What is going on?

Am I in the hospital?

Why?

How long have I been out of it?

I hear my mom in the background. Surely, she can tell me whats going on. Mom, Mom! I shout, but she doesnt react.

HELLO!

Why cant she hear me?!

Can anyone hear me?

I quickly realize I have no control of my body, not even my eyes. I can see, but only whats directly in front of me. When I try to sit up, I feel disconnected from my body. I cant move or make any sound.

I am literally locked inside my own body.

This cant be happening.

This cant be happening!