Victoria Arlen was an 11-year-old athlete when she was diagnosed with a disease that put her in a coma for three years. While she was sleeping, her parents stoked the competitive fire within their daughter by playing sports events on TV with the hope that it would help her wake up.

When Arlen woke up she found she was paralyzed from the waist down, but even then, she never wanted to give up on being an athlete. Her perseverance and determination led her to the 2012 summer paralympics where she won gold and set a world record.

Check out the video to see how sports changed the course of Victoria Arlen’s life>>

BOSTON (CBS) – Five months ago, Victoria Arlen won a Paralympic gold medal in London.

It was an accomplishment few people thought was possible just a few years ago.

“Three to four years ago, when most of my competition and rivals and teammates were training for the London games, I was in a coma,” Arlen told WBZ-TV’s Dan Roche from her Exeter, New Hampshire home. “I was fighting for my life.”

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Bauer Hockey would like to recognize and congratulate Victoria Arlen, an 18-year-old from Exeter, NH, whose achievements already include four medals from the London Paralympics, a world-record in the 100-meter freestyle swim and a spot on the Women’s National sled hockey team.

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PORTSMOUTH — A local nonprofit specializing in providing adapted sports and therapeutic recreation to individuals with disabilities has been named the winner of a beverage coaster contest created by Portsmouth-based social startup LocalCoaster.

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Note from Northeast Passage: Thank you to our supporters and clients for voting for us to win this contest. We appreciate your support!

It’s hard to keep Victoria Arlen down. It’s even more difficult to keep up with her.

The 18-year-old high school senior from Exeter, New Hampshire, is already an accomplished hockey player, swimmer, actress, model and motivational speaker.

And she does it all without the use of her legs.

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Lebanon — Thanks to several New Hampshire-based nonprofits, disabled veterans had quite the workout in the Upper Valley this week.

On Monday at Campion Rink, volunteers from the Dartmouth College men’s and women’s hockey teams joined personnel from Durham-based Northeast Passage for an afternoon of sled-hockey instruction and a scrimmage for wounded veterans. Read More>>

If you build it, they will come.

And they did. Three hikers in wheelchairs and two on crutches, with incredible effort and determination, completed a 9.2 mile round-trip journey this month to the Gale Head hut in the White Mountains. They proved wrong critics who said they would never use the Appalachian Mountain Club facility — the first made accessible for people with disabilities.

Their journey was aided by UNH’s Northeast Passage, a program run through the Department of Recreation Management and Policy, which provides sports and recreation opportunities for individuals with physical disabilities. Read More>>

Galehead Videos:

Trek to Galehead (4:24)

To view the full version (45 Minutes):

• Visit the UNH iTunes page: http://itunesu.unh.edu/
• This will open up iTunes on your computer (if you don’t have iTunes, you’ll have to download it)
• Once the UNH main page loads in iTunes, on the right hand side, scroll to Life at UNH and choose Exceptional Stories
• Click on the photo Tumbnail – and choose Spirit of Galehead (45:52)

Northeast Passage’s sled hockey program runs from September to April and includes a youth and development component and a nationally ranked adult team. This program serves more than 100 athletes and families throughout New England with more than 60 practices and competitions.

The adult team competes in the Northeast Sled Hockey League and attends two national events per year: The NHL Classic and USA Hockey’s National Championships. The team includes three veterans recently injured in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, three student-athletes attending UNH, two members of the U.S. national sled hockey team and community members from Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

Five years ago Bauer kick-started the youth program, which has grown steadily since then. This season, the youngest player is five and the oldest is 18. Disabilities served include cerebral palsy, spina bifida, spinal cord injury, amputation and traumatic brain injury. In 2012, four members of the team were invited by USA Hockey to attend the summer player development camp. One player (aged 15) was named to the national development team.

“This donation from Bauer Hockey allows us to provide equipment to first-time athletes of all ages and to those athletes that are not able to afford protective gear of their own,” said Bill Stewart, Northeast Passage’s competitive sports coordinator. “We are grateful for their continued support of our programs.”

Bauer Hockey is the world’s leading designer, developer, manufacturer and marketer of ice hockey equipment. The company developed the first skate with a blade attached to a boot, forever changing the game of hockey. Since then, Bauer has continued to develop the most innovative products in the industry.  Headquartered in Exeter, Bauer Performance Sports is the parent company of Bauer Hockey, Mission Roller Hockey, Maverik Lacrosse, Cascade Sports and Inaria International.

“We’re happy to continue our partnership with Northeast Passage,” said Kevin Davis, president and CEO of Bauer Performance Sports.  “It’s exciting to see this program grow and reach more and more athletes from across the state and throughout New England.”

For more than 20 years, Northeast Passage has been a nationally recognized leader in the field of therapeutic recreation. As a non-profit affiliated with the University of New Hampshire, they specialize in providing innovative solutions for individuals with disabilities including children, adults and our nation’s military personnel.

PowerCats player Ben Safford passes the ball up to his brother Sam, who quickly spins around a defender and effortlessly slips the ball past the goalie for the first score of the game. Sam pumps his chest and races back to the centerline cheered by a boisterous crowd of friends and family.

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