Haven Shepherd was born in Vietnam. When she was 16 months old, her biological parents, who had had an affair, detonated a bomb that was intended to be a family suicide. It instantly killed her biological parents but Haven survived. Haven was thrown 10 metres from the family hut and driven for 2 hours on a motorbike to the local hospital where they amputated both of her legs.

She hasn’t had surgery since!
4 months later, she was adopted into an American family and gained 6 siblings! Haven is now an elite paralympic athlete who competed at Tokyo 2020. She also happens to be a laugh and a half with some of the most outrageous ‘double decker’ date stories we’ve ever heard!
In the chat we speak about:

What Haven remembers about her early years
Whether she holds resent for her biological parents
How strangers ask inappropriate questions about how Haven lost her legs
How Haven’s parents initially weren’t going to be her parents and the serendipitous way they found each other
Why swimming was the best option for her
How parents should teach their kids about disability

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Haven Survived a Suicide Bomb and Went on to be a Paralympic Swimmer! Uncut with Haven Shepherd