Paralympian Stef Reid makes candid admission about life-changing accident that led to amputation

The new documentary – Path to Paris: Paralympic Dreams airs this Sunday, August 25 at 4.55pm on Channel 4.

It follows five British athletes as they prepare for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games and offers a unique insight into how National Lottery players support them on their journey.

“The thing is, it’s not if it only happens every four years, it’s not enough to really engage people, and in these two weeks,” Reid explained.

“It’s impossible to properly convey all of the stories, all of the incredible things that you’re seeing.

“And so to have a documentary like Paralympic dreams, where you get a behind the scenes. Look at what it’s like being a para-athlete.

“And the thing is, I think as para-athletes, we take for granted that, you know, the lives that we live in, the things that we do to perform our sport.

“You know, for me, it’s it’s just it was normal. It would be normal to turn to someone and say, ‘Hey, do you mind holding my legs while I hold this coffee?’

“And people will think, ‘Oh, that sounds like a really bizarre sentence,’ but that’s just our everyday life.

“And so for someone else to be able to witness that and engage in it, it just gives you the ability to then see, appreciate, love, understand the sports you’re going to see next week even more. And I mean, parasport is awesome.”

Reid, who often commentates for parasport now, went on to reflect on her life-changing accident: “So my accident was in the early 2000s and so this was well, well before the time of the Paralympics, no one even really knew what parasport was.

“So my dream initially was to be an international rugby superstar. That’s what I love. That’s what I wanted to do. That’s what my life was going to revolve around.

“And so to be 16, I mean, for anybody to face an amputation of 16 is really tough, but especially when your identity, your hopes and dreams, are all hinged on sport.

“And that was me thinking, ‘Well, you know, how am I going to play rugby if I can’t run?’ So it was a different space for me and I was so lucky and at the time, documentaries like this didn’t exist.”

Thankfully, Reid managed to make a huge success of her sporting career and now inspires others to do the same.

National Lottery players have transformed Athletics in the UK, with more than £300million invested since National Lottery funding began. They support our elite athletes to win medals on the world stage and have invested in clubs, facilities and programmes across the country to enable more people to take part in the sport.

The second Episode of Path to Paris: Paralympic Dreams will air directly before the Games this Sunday. It will then be available to view on Channel 4’s streaming service, alongside episode one. The Paralympics will be on Channel 4 from Wednesday, August 28.