‘I HAD TO LOSE MY FEET TO STAY ALIVE'

After a mosquito bite nearly killed her, Stephenie made the heartbreaking decision to have a double amputation

- Phillip Koch

This brave single mum should be dead, according to her doctors. But through grit, determination and sheer bloody hard work, Stephenie Rodriguez has not only beaten the odds, but also is walking, dancing and stand-up paddleboarding with her new bionic feet.

“I think I’m a work in progress,” Stephenie, 52, tells Woman’s Day as she prepares to return to Africa, where her ordeal began two years ago in Nigeria when a mosquito bite left her with deadly cerebral malaria. This time, she’s returning to inspire people with her story of survival.

“I have my good days and my bad days physically – because of the exposure and severe septic shock, I’m four times more likely to die of organ failure in the next three years than anyone else. I’m in constant state of repair.”

LONG ROAD TO RECOVERY

It’s been a year this month since Stephenie had her life-changing operation, which got her out of a wheelchair and physically mobile again.

“I have to work hard!” she says. “I have to see my physio constantly. I’m adapting, learning to walk again and finding out what my body can do.

“But when I woke up in the coma, I couldn’t move anything. I couldn’t scratch my nose. I couldn’t raise my arm above my head.”