Six Star Magazine Six Star Magazine Winter 2011/2012 | Page 38

FEATURE
we choose to always stay in our comfort zone.

little skip/run manoeuvre on her crutches. She

will accomplish down the road. Right now,

For Stephanie, this often means being seen

admits that it looks ridiculous, but it is a good

along with taking over the coaching reins at

on her crutches instead of with her prosthetic.

way to exercise. “What the heck,” she says.

Whitehorse, she has motivational speaking

Just recently, she made the decision to go to

“People are staring at me anyway. If I can’t

engagements sprinkled throughout her

a formal gala for the first time on crutches.

laugh at myself, I will simply be swallowed up

calendar; this past summer, for example,

“Crutches do not scream sexy,” she says,

by self-consciousness.”

she spoke at the annual Subaru National

“but what is attractive is confidence.”
Stephanie has always had a very pragmatic

And, of course, some experiences come

Dealer Meeting in Vancouver. Stephanie

along just to keep one humble. Recently,

has an important message to share about

viewpoint with respect to the attention she

Stephanie was coaching at a pool and

the personal rewards that confidence,

receives as well as the labels people put on

someone came in and said to her, “Aren’t

perseverance and resilience can bring. She

her. It is refreshing that she does not get

you the girl in the bus shelter?” It seems

has come to understand that, even though

caught up in it. “Sure, people stare but that’s

a Canadian Paralympics poster featuring

others may think so, neither swimming nor

just because they are curious and let’s face

Stephanie was hanging on the outside of the

her leg define her. She has a very healthy

it, I am different.” Stephanie has never felt

shelter. It was all very impressive until she

attitude with respect to the curious attention

weaker or less capable just because she has

realized that it was covered in bird droppings.

she receives, but she also knows that who

only one leg. To prove this, she has recently

“We had a good laugh and then we cleaned

she is, disability and all, has brought many

challenged herself to get exercise outside of

off the poop,” she says.

extraordinary experiences to her life. She is

the swimming pool. She does what she calls a

It is impossible to know what Stephanie

remarkably comfortable speaking to groups.
She has no set script and simply speaks from
the heart. And she is very real. “I get a bit
nervous before each speech, I laugh at my
own jokes and I talk a bit too fast, but I know
I have a lot to share,” she says. “I understand
that I have had experiences that would
normally scare others so even when I am
talking at $200-a-plate dinners, I know they
are listening and they care about what I
have to say.”
From the moment she was born, that missing
leg became a gift. It set the course for a life
full of wonderful challenges and remarkable
achievements. While she has retired from
competitive swimming, don’t count her out
as a competitor. Stephanie is currently feeling
some very friendly heat, from Subaru dealer Bob
Saunders of Victoria, BC, to participate in one
of her life’s dreams, a triathlon. In order to do
this, Stephanie will require a hand cycle for the
bicycling portion and a racing wheelchair for the
running portion. But would anyone doubt she
could make that happen?
Whatever happens, Stephanie will keep her
life moving forward. “I don’t want to spend
the rest of my life making speeches about the
person I used to be, about the high points in my
life in the past,” Stephanie says. “I want to peak
the day before I die.”

Seen in newspapers, transit shelters and on television screens coast to coast, this high-impact advertising campaign – initiated
by the Canadian Paralympic Committee – is sure getting attention. This, of course, is the point – to raise awareness of the
Paralympics, the elite athletes (Paralympians) and the highly competitive, hard-core nature of the sports involved.