How would the “Diary of Anne Frank” be different if she had a video camera? In 1945, Anne Frank shared her most intimate details of her life through her diary. In 1995, Stephani Victor shared the most intimate details of her life through a video camera.
On December 19, 1995, Stephani was standing on the sidewalk in Hermosa Beach, California when an out of control vehicle jumped the curb and crushed her into another car. In order to save her life the doctors had to amputate both of her legs above the knee. Nothing in her life had prepared her for such a monumental shock. She was now faced with circumstances that she could not possibly fathom. For Stephani, dissolving into a deep depression was not an option. Her will and life force enabled her to reach deep down within herself, utilize the fire in her heart and reclaim her sense of self from this devastating life alteration. Without hesitation she chose a quest for knowledge fueled by an unyielding drive to defy the odds. Filled with gratitude for her life, she began her grueling rehabilitation and at the same time began filming her own life’s tribulations.
The intensity and urgency of the situation unfolded, second after second as she exposed her own physical, mental, emotional and spiritual rebirth before the lens. Documenting each step, Stephani captured endless hours of rehabilitation, in and out of hospitals, thirteen reconstructive surgeries, her re-entry into society, walking again on two prosthetic legs as well as the discovery of her next challenge; ski racing. After a few extraordinary lessons with the head coach of the Park City Disabled Ski Team, Marcel Kuonen, Stephani was given an offer she could not refuse, to relocate to Park City and train to compete in the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Olympics.
Rarely does the general public have an opportunity to witness another person’s life experience on such an intimate level. “The Lengths I Will Go” is a raw and invigorating portrait of one woman’s will to survive and re-create her life. In the midst of tragedy and chaos, Stephani relentlessly set out to share the sadness, horror and triumph of her story. Her journey began just five days after the accident in ICU where she looked fearlessly through the lens not knowing exactly where those scenes might go and now, nearly twenty years later that journey reaches a gold medal winning climax when Stephani won a gold medal in the slalom at the 2006 Torino, Italy Winter Olympics and again in the Super Combined in the 2010 Vancouver, Canada Winter Olympics.
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