From the critically acclaimed BBC Two and iPlayer series Pilgrimage follows well known personalities of differing faiths and beliefs on a personal journey of discovery as they tackle some of the most famous walking routes across the UK and Europe. In this series the Pilgrims go to Austria in Pilgrimage The Road Through the Alps.
Steph tells the group about the boating accident that led to her having her right leg amputated below the knee at the age of 15. She describes how it was the beginning of her faith.
Transcript
Pilgrimage Moments: Journey of Faith Transcript
Narrator: Now the group know each other better. Stef decides to tell them about her accident.
Stef: I do appreciate that no one's kind of just asked. Just because it is a tough story to tell. When I was 15, we were doing this thing called tubing, which is when you attach a rubber inner tube to the back of a speedboat and you go flying across the water. I hit a wave and I flipped off, and the driver had no idea I was in the water, and I saw the boat coming, and I knew immediately something was wrong. He is just he's coming way too fast. And I just remember the last thing, just seeing that ridge of the boat as as it went on top. I just knew from my friends faces as they pulled me onto the boat that you know this. This is not good. Like there is too much blood. I remember being in the back of the ambulance and just desperate to survive. Suddenly that was it. In a split second, that was it. There was going to be no more time. And it was terrifying. And I prayed for the first time. Probably. Seriously? God, please, please save me. And I know that he answered that prayer. And I remember waking up from surgery and just feeling so grateful. And then my mum walked into the recovery room. And she was the one who had to tell me that my right foot had had to be amputated. And I was devastated. I was so thankful to still be alive. But I was so angry. I just thought, how can a God save you and yet leave you in such a cruel position. But I think back now, and I cannot deny that there was another. I think presence is the best word that I can say. It just felt like something was fighting for my life. Something that said, this sucks right now, but it will not be like this forever. A day will come when this is going to be okay and this level of hope. That was the start of of my faith, which sounds bizarre, but that was it. I will never forget. Seven days after the accident, a nurse walked into my room who absolutely changed my life. She said, Stephanie, it is time. It is time to move forward. Others have and you can too. Wow. Yes. I was shocked because she was the first person who had walked into that room and didn't feel sorry for me. I had absolutely zero pity. That was the first time that I actually felt like doing something or fighting that was enough to just release that competitive spark.
Nelufar: Is that hope? What has carried you through all of those Paralympics and the awards and the accolades? Is that the genesis of that hope?
Stef: Um, you've got me going there. Um, yes. Because I think like that to me is that if you don't have hope, I just think, what? What is the point? There's nothing else.
Daliso: I find you're someone who makes me believe more, um, when I talk to you. Because I had a certain amount of faith. And then it's not that I lost it. It just became a thing in the background. And then when I talk to you, I remember the fervour which I had, and I miss it. And so I just find you've been a catalyst for faith. Yeah.
Helen: Thank you for taking us through that and coming out the other side and showing us what faith is.
Stef: Thank you for listening. Thank you. I really appreciate that.
Narrator: Now the group know each other better. Stef decides to tell them about her accident.
Stef: I do appreciate that no one's kind of just asked. Just because it is a tough story to tell. When I was 15, we were doing this thing called tubing, which is when you attach a rubber inner tube to the back of a speedboat and you go flying across the water. I hit a wave and I flipped off, and the driver had no idea I was in the water, and I saw the boat coming, and I knew immediately something was wrong. He is just he's coming way too fast. And I just remember the last thing, just seeing that ridge of the boat as as it went on top. I just knew from my friends faces as they pulled me onto the boat that you know this. This is not good. Like there is too much blood. I remember being in the back of the ambulance and just desperate to survive. Suddenly that was it. In a split second, that was it. There was going to be no more time. And it was terrifying. And I prayed for the first time. Probably. Seriously? God, please, please save me. And I know that he answered that prayer. And I remember waking up from surgery and just feeling so grateful. And then my mum walked into the recovery room. And she was the one who had to tell me that my right foot had had to be amputated. And I was devastated. I was so thankful to still be alive. But I was so angry. I just thought, how can a God save you and yet leave you in such a cruel position. But I think back now, and I cannot deny that there was another. I think presence is the best word that I can say. It just felt like something was fighting for my life. Something that said, this sucks right now, but it will not be like this forever. A day will come when this is going to be okay and this level of hope. That was the start of of my faith, which sounds bizarre, but that was it. I will never forget. Seven days after the accident, a nurse walked into my room who absolutely changed my life. She said, Stephanie, it is time. It is time to move forward. Others have and you can too. Wow. Yes. I was shocked because she was the first person who had walked into that room and didn't feel sorry for me. I had absolutely zero pity. That was the first time that I actually felt like doing something or fighting that was enough to just release that competitive spark.
Nelufar: Is that hope? What has carried you through all of those Paralympics and the awards and the accolades? Is that the genesis of that hope?
Stef: Um, you've got me going there. Um, yes. Because I think like that to me is that if you don't have hope, I just think, what? What is the point? There's nothing else.
Daliso: I find you're someone who makes me believe more, um, when I talk to you. Because I had a certain amount of faith. And then it's not that I lost it. It just became a thing in the background. And then when I talk to you, I remember the fervour which I had, and I miss it. And so I just find you've been a catalyst for faith. Yeah.
Helen: Thank you for taking us through that and coming out the other side and showing us what faith is.
Stef: Thank you for listening. Thank you. I really appreciate that.
