The accident happened on May 10, 2016, after Inglis finished a volunteer English teaching session in the former Ha Long City, northern Vietnam’s Quang Ninh Province, The Press and Journal reported.
She was sitting sideways on a motorbike while wearing a long skirt when its hem became caught in the wheel, throwing her onto the road.
The impact fractured her skull and broke her neck in two places, leaving her in a coma. Doctors estimated her chance of survival at just 1%.
Before the accident, Inglis was an accomplished judoka who had won a silver medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. She had arrived in Vietnam in January 2016 to teach English to disadvantaged children.
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Stephanie Inglis, then 27, poses for a photo with her students in Vietnam. Photo from X/Stephanie Inglis |
After receiving emergency treatment and spending several weeks in hospital in Vietnam, she was flown back to Edinburgh in June 2016. Her repatriation was made possible by a community fundraising campaign that raised more than US$400,000 for her medical expenses.
When she regained consciousness after a month-long coma, she heard medical machines beeping and saw her parents nearby. Confused, she wondered why they had come to Vietnam, unaware that she had already returned to Scotland.
She also did not know that surgeons had removed part of her skull during treatment.
Her rehabilitation lasted years. Once an elite athlete, Inglis struggled to walk, frequently forgot words and needed help with basic personal care.
During one physiotherapy session, she was asked to climb stairs. Having previously trained by running up steps at Murrayfield Stadium, she expected the exercise to be easy. Instead, she nearly fell backward after taking just a few steps. She later moved back in with her parents so they could monitor her seizures.
Although her speech and communication gradually recovered, she had to abandon her competitive judo career. Doctors warned that another blow to the head could be life-threatening.
She attempted to resume training, but pain around the titanium plate protecting her skull made professional competition impossible. “It took me a long time to get over it, and at one point I didn’t even want to be near judo anymore,” she said.
With her Olympic ambitions over, Inglis turned to teaching. Despite doctors warning that office-based work could be difficult because of her brain injury, she completed her university degree during the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Stephanie Inglis, 37, with her son. Photo from Facebook/Stephanie Morrison |
In 2022, she married construction engineer Ally Morrison and completed her teacher training. Three years later, the couple welcomed a son, and Inglis secured a job as a primary school teacher.
She remains connected to judo by refereeing competitions and hopes to become a coach when her son is older.
Looking back on the past decade, Inglis sees her recovery as a second chance at life. She often introduces herself as the luckiest person when meeting someone new. “I am lucky because I’ve practically lived two lives and pursued two different careers that I truly love,” she said.