October 21st, 2021 | Story by Patrick Mcardle | Originally Posted in the Rutland Herald
In Rutland City, Gift of Life Ambassador Stefanie Schaffer is working with the Red Cross to help promote the annual Rutland Gift of Life Marathon that will take place beginning at noon Tuesday, Oct. 26, at the Paramount Theatre.
Photo by Hannah Dicton
A local woman who has spent years recovering from a serious injury hopes the latest update on her personal journey to recovery will inspire area residents to donate blood at this year’s Gift of Life Marathon.
While in the Bahamas with family and friends, Stefanie Schaffer, 25, of Rutland, was on a tour boat on June 30, 2018. There was an explosion on the boat which killed an Atlanta, Georgia, woman and injured Schaffer so badly she would need to have both legs amputated.
Schaffer, who earned applause when she approached the podium by herself using prosthetics and other supports, before giving a speech at the Rutland Region Chamber of Commerce annual event in 2019, also suffered injuries to her spinal cord and brain but completed her degree in health promotion and graduated from Castleton University last year.
As a public speaker, Schaffer, who also spoke to students at last year’s virtual Rutland High School graduation, has often encouraged people but she’s also been candid about the challenges she has faced in finding new ways to live after her injuries.
Those who last heard her story in 2019 may be surprised during her presentation at noon Tuesday at the Paramount Theatre.
“There’s been a lot of accomplishments and a lot figuring my life out since then. I met a lot of milestones that I was working toward, but since that speech (in 2019,) I’ve had multiple surgeries that had extensive recoveries to each one. Some of them were expected and many of them were not. So it was, going in and out of the hospital, even throughout COVID, going for a hospital stay by myself for the first time. I’m going to be talking about not only the physical challenges that these surgeries have brought but the emotional challenges they bring and how, I’m finally at a point where all the surgeries are done and sort of, really for the first time, being able to look forward into a life that doesn’t revolve around medical care,” she said.
While she said some people who heard her speak in 2019 might have believed she had already reached that goal and that her medical issues were in the past, she said she wants people to know what has happened since then.
“I’m here to sort of share that it wasn’t in the past, and now I have hit that milestone,” she said. Steve Costello, a vice president at Green Mountain Power and an organizer of the Gift of Life Marathon, explained by email why Schaffer was chosen as the ambassador for the blood drive.
“I’ve gotten to know Stefanie over the past two years, both working to support the blood drive, and in helping arrange about 10 speeches for her over the last couple of years in schools and to all (Green Mountain Power) employees, and I’m amazed by her ability to connect with people, and to find positives in very difficult circumstances. She is the epitome of grace and grit — two seemingly disparate qualities that make her an incredible example for others to follow. Whether people have heard her story in depth already, or hear her for the first time at this event, I guarantee that they will be moved and inspired,” he said.
While Schaffer said it might seem overwhelming to have gone through the challenges she faced in such a public way, she said the attention has come “in the most positive ways.”
“Every opportunity that I’ve been given has been because people from this hometown have helped me along the way. I think that it has helped me heal, being able to have all these opportunities to share what I’m going through instead of having to go through it alone and knowing that everyone here genuinely cares and is genuinely interested,” she said.
The support system she found in Rutland makes the “tough times easier,” she added. Schaffer said she was surprised that so many have seen her as a role model of recovery, which was one of the reasons she was asked to address the chamber.
“It helps me to see myself in a way I might not have if I hadn’t had people coming up to me and telling me they think I’m an inspiration or all these positive things they say. It made me actually realize that I was and things I was going through were actually helping other people which makes it easier for me to get through,” she said.
Schaffer said that feedback also inspires her to be honest in her presentations about how the successes are also mixed with setbacks, complications and hardships.
“Maybe that’s what a lot of people relate to. Yes, you can can be an inspiration and still say, ‘But, yeah, I’m having a really hard day today,’” she said.
The GOLM launch will be hosted at the Paramount Theatre at noon Tuesday, Oct. 26. The event is free but proof of vaccination and a mask are required to attend. Plans for this year’s four-day marathon will be announced during this kickoff.
The blood drive is on Facebook at facebook.com/GiftOfLifeVT online.