Dancing On Ice's Stef Reid has opened up about the horrific moment she lost her foot in a boating accident when she was a teenager.

The track and field Paralympian, 37, was on holiday in Canada when the tragic accident happened.

22 years ago Stef was having fun with her friend and her family while on their travels in the country in North America. 

Aged just 15, her life completely changed when she fell off a rubber ring while attached to a boat that was speeding around on a lake.

Recalling the moment it happened, Stef previously told The Mirror: "I was underwater for what felt like a long time and when I finally reached the surface, gasping for breath, I couldn’t feel any pain.

"My first thought was, 'That was lucky. I’m not going to tell my mum that happened!' Then I noticed the water around me was red. Everyone on the boat was freaking out and I knew something was wrong.

"Although I couldn’t see my injuries below the water, the propeller had caught me across my right leg, my glutes and lower back. I didn’t know it, but it had almost cut me in half.

"What I did know was there was way too much blood. I had no feeling in my right foot and I thought I was going to die."

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Stef was rushed to hospital and the doctors did their best to save her life.

The Dancing on Ice star had to have her right leg below her knee amputated as a result of the accident.

She added: "When I woke up after my operation, I was just thankful to be alive. My surgeon had worked miracles.

"There are a lot of important organs around your lower back where my main wound was and propellers are dirty, but I was told they’d cleaned the wound, surgery had gone well and there’d been no spinal damage…

"Then my mum came in. She said, 'They did everything they could, but they had to concentrate on your back… They had to amputate your foot.'"

Stef has gone on to have an extremely successful career as an athlete.

She competed for Canada in the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, winning a bronze medal in the women's 200 metres.

In 2010 she started representing Great Britain and at the 2012 Games she won three silver medals in the sprint and mid-distance events.

Now the star has swapped her running shoes for some ice skates.

Stef is one of 12 celebs taking part in the fourteenth series of ITV's Dancing on Ice.

She is partnered up with pro skater Andy Buchanan.

When the news was announced back in November, she told Good Morning Britain: "It’s a little it scary but I cannot wait."

Last week Stef opened up about how she's found learning to skae.

She told ITV's Lorraine: "It was really hard at the beginning, because I had never skated before, so I didn’t really know what I needed and the first few months were such a struggle.

"I didn’t have any confidence putting weight on my artificial side and the thing with skating is you have to be able to balance evenly."

Last night many viewers took to Twitter to praise the star for her efforts on the ice.

One wrote: "I think it’s incredible how Stef is able to skate with only one leg."

Another said: "Being able to dance with a prosthetic leg is a challenge in itself. Well done to Stef she did so well."

A third chimed in: "Stef Reid Amazing showing people who have a disability nothing is impossible."

On Sunday night rugby player Ben Foden became the first celebrity forced to leave the show, after finding himself at the bottom of the leaderboard.

Stef, Kimberly Wyatt, Connor Bell, Ria Hebden, Kye Whyte, Brendan Cole, Rachel Stevens, Liberty Poole, Regan Gascoigne, Stef Reid, Bez and Sally Dynevor are still in with a chance of winning the show.

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