At 11-years-old Victoria Arlen realized there was something wrong with her. She had always loved dancing and swimming but slowly started becoming sick. First it was bad spouts of the flu that later turned into more serious matters making her unable to move her legs. Over time her mother Jacqueline grew more and more concerned as she watched her once bubbly little girl start slowly deteriorating before her very eyes.
Countless doctor visits later and they determined that Victoria had two autoimmune diseases that were affecting her brain and spinal cord. To the outside world Victoria looked gone and mentally unable to communicate like she once was able to – but still, her parents never left her side. Little did her parents realize that they were about to get the shock of their life upon learning that their smart little girl was still in there desperately trying to communicate with them.
Turns out Victoria was aware of her surroundings. She had lost all ability to voluntarily move or communicate; unable to even control her eyes, but was aware of everything around her, which doctors and her parents hadn’t realized. Victoria was trapped inside her own body trying everything she possibly could to get someone to notice she was still there. At age 15, four years after her diagnosis, Victoria became fully aware of the fact that she knew she was cognitive but had no way of communicating anything to her family. Then, everything changed for her after the doctors medication gave her back control of her eyes, allowing her to communicate with her mother. Fast forward now and Victoria is back to being the bubbly girl she once used to be. Find out more about her harrowing ordeal and the moment she locked eyes with her mother to pave way towards her miraculous recovery in the video below. Her story is truly a miracle.
