JK8IËJ KPG@:8C ;8@CP ;@<K
WHEN Stef Reid lost her right foot in a boating accident aged just 15 it looked like her sporting dreams were over.
She says: “I had always loved sport but suddenly it seemed that I would have a very different life.”
But brave Stef didn’t give up. Instead she learnt to run on a blade and transformed herself into a top Paralympian.
Now aged 33, she can boast two silver medals for Team GB at the Paralympic Games and is the current World T44 long jump champion.
She adds: “These days I never take for granted the ability to run and jump.”
A trained biochemist, the self-styled “blade stunner” has also been known to strip off for sexy photoshoots and is set to star on BBC One’s Celebrity MasterChef this summer.
Born to British parents, she grew up in Canada and was a budding rugby player.
But just before her 16th birthday Stef was playing with pals in a lake when a boat propeller ripped into her back and leg.
Her life was only saved by a skilled surgeon who managed to stem the Breakfast: Protein powder, yoghurt, chia seeds, blueberries, toasted pecans. Spoonful of apple cider vinegar.
Lunch: Two boiled eggs, hummus and rice cakes.
Dinner: Big chilli stew or roasted shoulder of pork.
Snacks: Homemade protein bars.
Guilty pleasure: Carrot cake.
flow of blood. Yet he was forced to amputate above the right ankle.
And, as Stef gears up to take part in The Müller Anniversary Games this weekend, she says: “I took time to adjust – I was very angry and frustrated that the thing I loved doing might be taken away from me.
“I spent the first three months on crutches.”
When it looked like rugby was not an option any more she turned to running instead.
Stef recalls: “When I did get my first blade I was only able to do five minutes a week and then have to stop. My stump would get very painful.
“Effectively I’m walking on bone so I have to be careful. My stump gets very cold in winter and I have to keep it clean and free of infection.
“It’s easier for me to swim or go on a bike than to stand on it for a long time. I don’t go hiking.”
Yet Stef has a gruelling fitness regime in order to take part in her prime event – the long jump, putting in at least 25 hours training a week.
She says: “We have to be fast and jump powerfully – it doesn’t matter how beautiful your technique if that’s not right.
“I do a lot of sprinting as well as standing long jumps, but also plyometrics in the gym – explosive exercises designed to increase power.”
Good diet is important too, so it’s lucky that Stef enjoys getting into the kitchen.
The Leicestershire-based athlete, who is married to wheelchair racer Brent Lakatos, says: “I enjoy cooking and I don’t eat out much.
“If I want it I tend to make it. “I think it’s important to have a balance. Eighty-five per cent of food should be fuel and 15 per cent should be pleasure.
“I have a ‘Cake Tuesday’, when I always treat myself to a cake and a coffee.”
So what tips does Stef have to get fitter? She says: “Remember, if it is not fun then don’t do it – keep trying new things.” The Müller Anniversary Games will feature the world’s biggest athletics stars in action at the London Stadium on July 21-22. Tickets are available via britishathletics.org.uk Singer Michelle Heaton, TV’s Lisa Riley and athlete Iwan Thomas have backed cancer charity Macmillan’s Mighty Hikes, taking place across Britain this summer to help raise money to fight the disease. Visit macmillan.org.uk/ challenge to find out how you can take part. BEING MOODY: Annoyed at having to work in the heatwave? Well, now researchers have found that there may
98;
AVOIDING SUN: Enjoy some rays while you can. American researchers have discovered that people living in areas with less sunlight are more likely to have obsessive compulsive disorder which leads to behaviours such as washing hands repeatedly.
MISSING MEDS: Nearly one in four of us is forgetting to take our regular medication as prescribed according to new findings by be a benefit to that bad mood. Scientists from the University of Waterloo in Canada have found that being grumpy in your job can, in fact, help with tasks like managing time and focusing attention. CHEESY DOES IT: For years we’ve been told that eating lots of saturated fat is bad but a US study has found no evidence that full-fat dairy foods cause heart disease and reports they may actually help reduce the chances of suffering a stroke. Pharmacy2U.
The wasted meds are costing the NHS an estimated £300million a year.
INSECT PLAGUE: The hot weather has led to a surge in the number of insect bites, especially those by horseflies, according to the British Pest Control Association. Nasty big bloodsucking horseflies can cause infection which will need treatment with antibiotics.