Survival: A Double Amputee CEO’s Bold Approach to Life.

Life Without Feet.  Meet Stephenie Rodriguez, the double-amputee CEO who beat a 97% death rate after a mosquito bite changed her life. She turned loss into strength with grit and determination, embracing her "augmented" reality. Don’t miss her inspiring journey of resilience and reinventions.

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Transcript

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HOST (Jennifer) (00:02):

Hello, welcome to this podcast called Finding  Inspiration. It's a 20 or so minute weekly podcast where we interview someone with an amazing story. After the show, I know you're gonna feel energized, invigorated, and inspired. I'm Jennifer Weissmann. Welcome to Finding Inspiration.  Okay. Get ready. This episode is the very essence of resiliency. This CEO from Australia went to Nigeria, was bit by a mosquito, and subsequently had both of her feet amputated and has gone on using that resiliency to consider herself just simply limb different. And her goal is to impact 1 billion lives by 2025. Listen to this episode --- this will blow your mind. Stephanie Denise Rodriguez. Thank you for being with me today. We are gonna talk about the amazing journey of your life.  You call it Collateral Beauty which is seeing good where it is bad an how you were taken down by an invisible parasite and how it actually completely transformed your life. Welcome. 

GUEST (Stephenie) (01:20):

I'm thrilled to be here.

HOST (Jennifer) (01:21):

You're an entrepreneur. You've traveled to over 60 countries in the world. Back in 2020, you were traveling to Nigeria, and what happened?  

GUEST (Stephenie)  (01:34):

In 2019, I attended an organization called HIVE Global Leaders summit in Scotts Valley in California, and in my cohort were delegates from both Africa and India. And hearing my mission of impacting a billion lives by 2025, which I kept reiterating throughout 2019, I was invited me to speak at their various HIVE in-country activations. So I had two invites, one for HIVE Africa, and another for HIVE India. And I did the HIVE in Nigeria Africa segment first. I read all of the travel warnings.  I'm not a novice traveler and read about what I needed to be concerned about for both of those two destinations. I had kind of bubble-wrapped myself so that I was staying in the hotel where the conference was taking place just to be uber careful. And on the very last day, I was invited by an organization called Travel to speak at their monthly meetup with 80 travel professionals.  And I went and talked to them about WanderSafe, what we were building with WanderSafe, my company, and my startup. And then after the presentation, we were invited outside to take photos with the delegates. Some of those photos you can see on my Instagram.   What I didn't know about it being sunset and next to a pool of water was that I had been bitten three times on my left ankle and I didn't know it. And then I left Nigeria, went via Abu Dhabi to India, and did HIVE India. Had a meeting with the Australian high commission, met with some of our customers and had a week-long trip in India, my first time. And then I flew back to Australia on a Wednesday, changed my luggage. And on Thursday I flew with my best friend to Boston on a trip that I'd won so randomly.   I also had some meetings with a woman from the US State Department that whom I was part of a working group.  My friend Liz and I walked around Harvard. We went to see the Red Sox play and had a girls' weekend. And on Sunday we were in the airport waiting to fly back to Australia and I didn't make it outta the lounge. I had deteriorated so much.  My friend Liz was really worried about me and had been messaging her boyfriend.   And in the airport lounge, the Delta lounge at Logan Airport, I had a seizure that was non-responsive and the paramedics carted me out of that lounge on a gurney. And I would be in a coma for two weeks. So when I woke up, I had come through severe septic shock and was in complete organ failure.  It turns out a parasite gave me cerebral malaria, and that mosquito gave me in those three bites had basically begun to take over my body.  I had a ninja inside me trying to kill, and the data around cerebral malaria and survival Cerebral Malaria kills 97.7% of its victims. So it kills fast. It is a single winter game. Much like my instance, the victim falls into a coma and then goes undiagnosed because it's just such a random thing. Even in my situation, the ICU doctors took 20 hours to figure out what was wrong with me. And I was rapidly declining. And when they were told tests for parasites after they found out I'd been in Africa. And that's when cerebral malaria showed up. That was the beginning of a very long journey.

HOST (Jennifer) (05:26):

What happened next? I know some of your family flew in from Australia and the doctors were trying to figure out how to save your life. What did they do for you at that point?

GUEST (Stephenie) (05:35):

Severe septic shock and sepsis are simply put – a blood infection. And that parasite was eight percent of my blood volume. So it had begun multiplying in my body, but it got to such a level that my kidneys and liver just wouldn't let it through. The bigger it got, the more it took up caused me to go into this severe septic shock and that's complete organ failure. And my family had flown in from different parts of the United States. My son came from Australia and he was only 13. The doctor said to my family, that she won't live through the night. She doesn't have five minutes. They called everyone back and said, say goodbye, say your prayers, do what you do. It's game over. So, you know, they had been on this emotional roller coaster. The doctor said, there's one thing we can try.  We can give her vasopressors. And vasopressors are like adrenaline drugs. And simply put, they channel all the blood from your extremities, like your hands, your nose, and places that don't need it. And they shove it all to your vitals to keep them pumping and functioning. When situations are dire, the normal ratio of giving vasopressors is 60 to 40. So 60% of the blood might be pushed to the vitals, 40 percent doing the rounds, running through your, your veins, keeping stuff happening in much.   I was so dire, Jen. They said we're gonna have to give her the only thing we can do in this right now in this instance where she's got five minutes is give her 100% vasopressors and hope for the best. And we don't know that that'll work. It's no guarantee, but if she does survive this in the randomness of that 2%, she's gonna have collateral damages. And that's what I woke up with.

HOST (Jennifer) (07:21):

A hail Mary pass at that point?

GUEST (Stephenie) (07:23):

The doctors said we don't know if she's gonna make it or not, but if she does, she's gonna have collateral damage. And my family just said – just save her life. She'll work it out. She's strong. You know, she, it won't kill her. Do what you gotta do. And they just prayed that I would come through. Unfortunately, I did, but it was a pretty hectic time for all of those stakeholders to watch me. They filled me with 11 liters of fluid and then gave me a drug called methane blue, that turned me purple like a smurf blue-purple. So I was unrecognizable to my family being blue and with tubes coming out of everywhere. I had a line coming out of my neck for dialysis, tubes down my throat, tubes down my nose. It was pretty horrific to see me. I had a 13-year-old son who had to come to that bedside and see his mother non-responsive and in the worst part possible state ever. And, you know, fortunately, I came through it but as the doctors had promised there would be residual and collateral damage. And that was to both of my feet and my right hand.

HOST (Jennifer) (08:31):

You survived. You came out of the coma, they airlifted you back from Logan to Australia, which that alone is the shocking story, how they got you on the plane, and so forth. Leaving that aside. Once you got back to Australia and after about a year, you finally were told by a surgeon that trying to save your feet was not gonna happen. That your feet were no longer salvageable. You had to have both feet amputated.

GUEST (Stephenie) (08:57):

Correct. My heel bones were damaged permanently.

HOST (Jennifer) (09:00):

After the amputation, you had a fusion of what you call human and robotics parts that are your new feet now. So what did they do for you?

GUEST (Stephenie)  (09:08):

The process and procedure are called Osteo Integration.  Osteo is bone and integration is the connection. They took metal and titanium rods and cut off where the damaged legs started, which is for me above the ankle. So I have my knee, I have my mid-calf.  But somewhere between my calf and the ankle, they took off my legs. They took a metal and titanium rod and they put it through to my kneecap. And so I have a titanium rod hanging out of my amputation site. The proper word for this is a stump, but I don't have a stump because I'm osteo integrated. So I have a metal rod hanging about four inches below where my limb ends and connects that rod connects to the prosthetic.  I fasten it together with a hex key or Allen Key. I could get a day job at Ikea if I want it. Walking around with an Allen Key is now essential for me. There’s always an Allen Key on my body somewhere for quick access. If one of my screws gets untied.   My prosthetics literally screw on and off with the key.   The fusion of bone and metal parts fortunately the science is there that allows arm amputees and you can see them that can wiggle their prosthetic fingers.  This intention is actually coming from their brain. So the wiring to that prosthetic is actually sending that movement signal for me the way in which my doctor, Professor Munjed Al Muderis who is one of the world’s leading robotic’s surgeons.  He connected on one side of my leg where they amputated the other side, the nerve endings that parallel down your leg.  They connected them back to each other. So when the technology is available, I will have bionic and robotic feet and ankles, that will flick.  Right now I can't do that now – mine is in a fixed position. But as the technology progresses, they'll be able to fit me with a prosthetic that my brain can tell my ankle to flick my foot right now. The technology's not there like arms and hands are really much more advanced than the limb that I need because I'm needing an ankle and a foot versus a knee ankle foot piece, which is three parts.  Because  I was able to keep so much of my leg - the part that I need is really ankle and foot control.  The prosthetics are not yet advanced enough. I'll probably be one of the first to get them when they do because I am kind of the poster child in where I live. I am the only bilateral above ankle osteo integrated female in Australia. So there's not two of me. So everything we do here is kind of a little bit of wait and see trial and error and just test and learn, which is kind of exciting.

HOST (Jennifer)  (12:30):

Very amazing. You went home from the hospital in a wheelchair and then a year you were given prosthetic feet.

GUEST (Stephenie) (12:40):

I was in and out of hospital for much of 2020 and part of 2021. I fell sick on the 29th of September 2019. We had begun amputations on February 15th, 2020.  MRI showed all of the work we'd done to try to regenerate my heels and get my feet functioning again didn’t work.   My feet were not salvageable. So I had a year of being in a wheelchair, but then once I underwent Osteo Integration, I had to take it slowly. I had to relearn to walk again. I had to retrain my core from being sedentary in a bed for almost two years to be able to be upstanding and rebuild my body back, which was no easy task.

HOST (Jennifer) (13:33):

And at the time you had a company that you were running with partners and that had to continue. And you're also a mother to your son.  How did you juggle all of that? How did you balance your business, your son with your own care and learn how to walk again? Feed yourself, get a get around.

GUEST (Stephenie) (13:57):

For a long time, my hand was bandaged. I lost part of my index finger and the webbing here. And when this was deteriorating, I only had one hand. So one good hand to you. A lot of patience, learning how to ask for help, learning how to say I can't do this.  I am a Type A and such a doer for everybody else. Part of the learning journey for me was really to get comfortable in my vulnerability and to learn how to ask for help. I'm very fortunate that my investors in WanderSafe and in my company Jozu were kind. Technically I was injured on the job, but I didn’t have workers comp and director's insurance, as I would strongly advise anyone to get.  But this meant that I had to go on this journey all by myself, commercially and economically.  My investors were kind enough to give me some grace. I think through it was a question of whether I would ever after coming out of that coma: what kind of cognitive damage I might have had cerebral malaria is what it is. It attacks the brain. So there was fluid on my brain. There was a question as to what I would suffer from any disabilities -- cognitively. It was just a one-day a time kind of journey. But I had to get through this and I have a great group of girlfriends around me. I have a wonderful lead investor who has been by my side.  She flew from Australia to Boston to be near me when I was in a coma. And that's far more than an investor usually would do, but I'm fortunate to have that love and relationship with my investment team. They gave me the grace to get better and were patient and have been patient on this journey. Again, we couldn't see COVID coming, but it was almost, a blessing that we were able to take a step back and not lose our traction. And then return when the world was opening up again.  I was not at a point where I was in a hospital and able to start doing things again. 

HOST (Jennifer) (16:08):

What is WanderSafe?

Speaker 2 (16:10):

Wonder safe is an ecosystem. So it's a bit of hardware and software. It's an app and a personal safety device that is nonviolent. I developed it in 2018 with a retired CIA safety expert who actually was in Benghazi when all of that stuff went down. Thomas told me that personal safety comes down to three things: information, environment, and equipment. And I understood the first two, quite logically being a data geek as I am, but equipment. I said, Thomas, what is that? And he said, you know, things that help you to be better prepared and call for help. From his brief, we sat down and I designed a small personal safety device. It's a little keying basically, or a holdable, that's got tools in it. It's got a light, it's got a siren, it's got a strobe light for distraction, but it ultimately has an SOS button that when you press it three times and it's connected to the app via low-level Bluetooth, it starts and opens up the app.  It sends an SOS text to the people that you've put on your list to notify, whether it be an employer, a partner, a flatmate, a sister, a sibling, parent, that you're in trouble. And then it updates every minute and tells them where you are in the app until either the phone goes dead or you turn it off. So having one of these on your person makes you 87% less likely that an assault will actually take place.  You have a success mindset. And that's that you have a plan in case you're confronted -- you know what you're gonna do versus get surprised and not being prepared. But secondly, most of the assault -- bag snatching and things like that are crimes of opportunity. And when you, as a person are better prepared than the assailant wants you to be, then they're gonna go find an easier mark.  So they're likely when you let off a siren and a strobe and all these other things they're gonna take off and they're gonna go find someone easier to mess with. So you reduce the risk in this. But the app is actually where the real intelligence is. The app is free and it always will be free. It's been free since we launched it in 2018. And it allows you to annotate your journey, tell others where you are and whether you feel you're safe or not safe, say what's bothering you, take a photo of it because a picture's worth a thousand and words. But even in that instance of calling for help, faster than you can do on a handset, you can actually set up Siri and the Google shortcuts. So you could say: Hey, Siri, Harry spaghetti, if that's your code word for I'm in trouble, that's gonna open up the WanderSafe and start sending those text messages. Even if you don't have a beacon. So it's really a functional free tool that you can empower yourself to be better prepared if you are confronted and feel uneasy.  Whether at home in a domestic violence situation, or when you're outside the home, commuting, traveling, doing whatever, and just feeling that your safety's about to be compromised. And that's where we were.

HOST (Jennifer) (19:06):

That's amazing. You’re working on a Ted talk?

GUEST (Stephenie) (19:11):

My Ted talk is done. I was a guest at TEDx women in South Africa a few weeks ago. So that will be on the internet probably in May. I'm a member of UN Women Australia, and on November 25th, another UN women member formulated a treaty we launched on UN Day for the Eradication of Violence Against Women. The covenant is called the WanderSafe Accord, and you can go to wandersafeaccord.com and see it.  It reiterates the values of the United Nation. And it's pledged to end Gender-Based Violence by 2025 as part of the millennium development goals. And it's a covenant that says I too will do my part to help end Gender-Based Violence.  I will not be passive. I will be active. I will speak up for others. And we've introduced this to sporting teams, schools, and governments. And we're asking people to join us in this active fight against GBV.   Off all the 17 sustainable development goals, this one is the single one that we can do without requiring more infrastructure. You know, we don't need more wind farms. We don't need to end fossil fuels or build more schools. All of these that are the 17 SDGs are big, hairy goals. They really are. But the one that is about ending gender-based violence is just about us making a conscious decision actively. And that's what I advocate for strongly.

HOST (Jennifer) (20:48):

You just finished a book called “Thank You, Mrs. Carter.”  You're about to launch that too. When you look back on your life so far, you've done AMAZING things. You have a very big picture of yourself in how you plan to impact the world. How do you see your life going forward? Do you consider yourself – I don’t want to say disabled --  but do you consider yourself able-bodied?  What does Stephanie's life look like in the next five years?

GUEST (Stephenie)  (21:14):

I made this pledge of impacting a billion lives by 2025. And this recent trip to South Africa was a bit of a test and learn for me to see if I could actually travel alone for the first time since my injuries.  To be able to be front-facing. I do the same things used to do. I just do them differently. Jen, I just have to navigate the world a little bit differently. I know I'm vulnerable to things. And I used to think I was invincible and now I’m taking a step back and exercising better care. I'm no less tired and no less compassionate in spite of my limb difference. And that's what it's called. I'm technically referred to as disabled. But I see myself as augmented because I have superpowers that you don't and you have both of your limbs.  But I can walk across the hot sand and you can't.  I will never get a blister and you would.   I look at the differences in how I showed up before.  But until my mission is complete -- until gender-based violence is not a thing – well then I still have work to do.  In some of the work that I do now, whether I like it or not, I'm a poster child for limb difference. I'm a poster child for osteointegration be because I'm the most obvious case, especially in Australia for Osteo integration and bilateral amputees. I'm a woman, I'm a startup founder. I have ideas. Jack London made a quote in the 1800s and he said, “ I will not use my days trying to prolong them. I will use my time.”   And if I were to get a tattoo that said anything, and I don't have any tattoos, but if I were to get one, that's probably what I would say. I'm not gonna live in bubble wrap, waiting to die when my life is such a miracle and I'm given such an opportunity. I intend to use my time. And when it’s my time to go. But until then coming through death leaves you transformed. It makes you very aware of who your friends are. It makes you very aware of not sweating the small stuff that you can't fix. It also shows you how strong you are. And now I’m not in fear of me losing a limb, it's not gonna end my life. I know that the core essence of me is still me, despite the limb difference and the challenges and physical look of my body. I'm still a hundred percent passionate. And I just wanna live every single day to live out that mission and, and serve those who I can serve, whether it be an inspiration to getting over adversity and resilience. And some people look to me for that now on social media and in circles where I speak. I will continue to talk to audiences. I'll continue to write, I'll continue to work. I'll continue to advocate for those who don't have voices. And I think that's enough to keep me busy and, and still be a mom to this rapper in the next room. 

HOST (Jennifer) (24:15):

Amen. I’ll tell you something, I've done a number of these episodes and you are truly unbelievably inspirational. You have this go-forward attitude, a deep belief in yourself, and unbelievable stamina and resilience and it’s incredibly inspirational to me. I thank you for your time. Thank you for joining us this week on Finding Inspiration. Hey, I would appreciate it. If you would click on that subscribe button and share this podcast with a friend, see you next week. I'm Jennifer Weissmann.

As a side note:   Each April is designated Limb Loss Awareness Month and celebrated around the world as a time to recognize those living with limb loss and limb difference.