Olympic swimming hero Amy Van Dyken is remaining "overwhelmingly positive" as she recovers from surgery after severing her spine in an horrific quad bike crash.

The six-time U.S. gold medal winner was riding her all-terrain vehicle in Show Low, Arizona on Friday (06Jun14) when she flew over a curb and crashed to the ground.

She was airlifted to a hospital in nearby Scottsdale, where she was treated in the intensive care unit.

Doctors performed emergency surgery to repair her spine over the weekend (06-08Jun14) and she has since regained consciousness, reports Tmz.com.

Her family released a statement about Van Dyken's condition on Monday (09Jun14), revealing the brave sportswoman is already sounding like her old self.

The statement reads, "Amy's spinal cord was completely severed at the T11 vertebrae, but, miraculously, a broken vertebrae stopped within millimeters of rupturing her aorta, and she did not suffer any head trauma...

"Amy awoke within hours of surgery acting like her typical spunky, boisterous, ebullient self and has spent the last 24 hours entertaining her family and her medical staff in the Icu (intensive care unit). She has made at least one male nurse blush.

"Amy's attitude has been overwhelmingly positive and optimistic. She has been far more of a comfort to us than we have been to her."

According to the official incident report, Van Dyken had not been wearing a safety helmet at the time of the accident. Her husband Thomas Rouen also told investigators his wife had not consumed any alcohol before the crash.