Vanessa Low

‘Not About Replacing Loss, But Stepping Into All I Can Be’ 

Vanessa Low is going to her fourth Paralympic Games and the significance of that achievement isn’t lost on her.  

When she was 15, she accidentally stumbled from an overcrowded platform and into the path of an oncoming train.  

“Honestly we don’t what happened exactly,” Low said. “I was waiting for the train to arrive and ended up on the train tracks and got struck by a train. 

“I was missing one of my legs and the other one was severely damaged.” 

Low lost her left leg above the knee and right leg through the knee. She sustained head and back injuries and multiple broken bones. 

“No one ever thought a person like me could walk, let alone run,” she said.  

“That’s why everyone was like, “Well, even if this works and even if running is actually possible, you probably never stand a chance’.” 

Despite two weeks in a coma, six months in hospital and nine surgeries, Low says the hardest part of her journey was rediscovering belief in herself and her abilities. 

“When I received my first pair of prosthetics, I was almost pushed in the direction of replacing what I had lost,” Low said. 

“I actually soon realised that nothing was going to replace my human leg. I then got introduced into the whole sporting world and put on the blades which feel nothing like human legs. 

“I realised that maybe it’s not about replacing something that I had lost but actually stepping into all that I can be.” 

Low’s sporting achievements have been outstanding. She is a Paralympic gold medallist – for both her native Germany and Australia – and world record holder in the long jump.  

She is also the only above knee amputee, single or double, to have jumped over the five-metre mark – and she’s not done yet. 

“Our stories aren’t written by what had happened to us but about the choices we make and every day we show up,” Low said.