Judo star Stephanie Inglis ‘thankful’ for life-saving head blow help

A Scots judo star has said she is “so thankful” to the generous Scots who paid for her treatment after she suffered a life-threatening head injury in a motorcycle accident while working abroad.

- Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2014 - Judo - Stephanie Inglis with silver medal and Connie Ramsay with bronze medal

Stephanie Inglis, who won a silver medal at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, was left fighting for her life after the accident in Vietnam in May 2016.

She was riding pillion on a motorcycle taxi to a school where she was teaching English to underprivileged children when her skirt got caught in the wheel, pulling her off the vehicle. Doctors in Vietnam gave her just a 1 per cent chance of survival, but a friend set up a fund that raised nearly £330,000 to help pay for her hospital care and her eventual return to the UK.

Ms Inglis, 30, describes her recovery in Scotland’s Summer of Medals – a new BBC Scotland documentary to be shown tonight – in which she also reveals her gratitude to more than 7,500 people who donated. She said: “Vietnam was great. I met so many people and had so many great experiences. I had the time of my life out there until that dreaded day, four months in.

“Originally when I came off the bike and had my accident, my travel insurance was void, so I was getting no treatment as there was no money there to pay.

“My mum and dad flew out straight away and it wasn’t until they signed liability that they’d pay for my treatment that they started treating me.

“However, my mum and dad didn’t have that kind of money – head injuries abroad are not cheap – so one of my childhood friends, Khalid Gehlan, set up the online GoFundMe page Save Steph, where people donated to pay for my medical treatment and get me back to Scotland.

“The page kicked off so quickly and spread like wildfire right through Scotland so fast. It just shows the generosity of people. I’m so thankful for it.”

Ms Inglis was desperate to return to her judo, but was forced to abandon her dream in 2017 after doctors warned another head injury could kill her. Speaking in the documentary, she tells how she had to learn to walk again and of her joy at fulfilling a dream to have her own home. The hour-long programme airing on BBC One at 10pm tonight looks back at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, through the athletes who won a record number of medals for Scotland.

Edinburgh cycling hero and Olympic gold medallist Callum Skinner also speaks about his battle with depression as part of the documentary.