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Shelley Osterloh ReportingPresident Bush recently honored some of the Olympians and Paralympians who competed in Torino. One of them, Stephanie Victor, is a Utah woman who never expected or even dreamed of being a competitive ski racer, until she lost both legs.
Eleven years ago Stephanie Victor had just graduated from the University of Southern California in filmmaking. A beautiful young woman, training for a marathon, hoping for a career in filmmaking. She was standing in the driveway loading things into the trunk of a car.
Stephani Victor: "He blew out his tires and came up into the driveway, and I was crushed between the two vehicles. And in order for the doctors to save my life, they had to amputate my legs."
To cope, Stephani Victor did what she knew, she picked up a camera and began to record her feelings.
Stephani Victor, 1995 in hospital bed: "And in this position, I was remembering all the years that I was dancing and I was thinking I would reach up here to stretch. And I was thinking that area to there is all gone."
Victor recorded the bleak conversations with doctors who told her she would use a wheelchair for the rest of her life.
Stephani, 1995 talking to Doctors: "I'm real anxious to hear what you guys have to say, what Dr. Chambers has to say about revisions. What's the choice?: Doctor: "Wheelchair." Victor: "That's not a choice."
Stephani Victor: "From the moment I woke up in ICU, there was this conversation about, 'you are handicapped, you're disabled.' And I said, 'No, I'm not. I still feel like me.'"
Three years and 11 surgeries later she was in Utah for the Sundance Film Festival. She met Marcel Kuonen, an instructor at the National Ability Center, strapped on her first sit-ski and heard about the 2002 Olympics.
Stephani Victor: "And what if I made the Olympic team and what if I won? Wouldn't that be a great ending to my film?"
So she moved to Park City and started training with the coach, who would eventually become her husband.
Marcel Kuonen, Stephani's Husband and Coach: "She is very passionate, she is very committed."
Stephani Victor: "His belief in me is the greatest gift of love I've ever received because it sustains me."
Victor didn't quite get the storybook ending she'd hoped for at the Salt Lake Games, but she did win bronze. She committed to another four years of training and learned life is not so much about the result as the journey. She says skiing has made her life richer.
Stephani Victor: "The freedom, the release, being in nature, being so high up on the mountain top. It's really where I found higher ground."
And in Italy she found that higher spot on the podium. On the last day of the games, she won gold.
Stephani Victor: "I feel humbled by it. I feel grateful I got to represent my country and win gold."
So now the filmmaker has her golden ending and plans to complete her documentary. She hopes it will inspire others to believe, as she does, that all things are possible.
Just this month, Stephani Victor was honored for her athletic achievements by the United States Ski and Snowboard Association. In addition to her Paralympic Gold medal, she also received the World Cup for the best overall results in Downhill.
