Stefanie Schaffer had both her legs amputated after a Bahamas tour boat she was aboard exploded.
The 22-year-old ballet dancer and soccer player who lost her legs in a Bahamas boat explosion is opening up about her difficult recovery.
Stefanie Schaffer of Rutland, Vermont, was on a boat tour in the Bahamas with her family when out of nowhere the ship exploded.
“I just remember the feeling of panic,” she told WVNY.
Tourists from another boat bravely waded into the shallow water to rush to the aid of the 10 stricken Americans aboard, one of whom died in the blast.
The explosion also changed Stefanie's life forever. She awakened later at a local hospital to realize that both her legs had been amputated.
Stefanie is now back in America and recently began physical therapy at a rehab facility in Boston.
“The biggest challenge is trying to figure out a new way to kind of move yourself around because you depend on your legs and everything's so much harder now,” she said.
She's now taking life one day at a time.
“Being alive is kind of the silver lining. Kind of thinking back, now I really appreciate things more because I’m alive and it's the first time I’ve ever thought that I wouldn't be,” she added.
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