Stephanie Nielson

When Stephanie Nielson, her husband, Christian, and six other Arizona Burn Center survivors reached the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro, Stephanie walked over and showed her physician Dr. Kevin Foster a picture. The picture, Stephanie says, looks like an autopsy photo, but the woman in the picture was alive. She asked Dr. Foster if he remembered that girl. Of course he did—the picture was of Stephanie nearly 15 years ago, just a couple of weeks after a plane crash left over 80 percent of her body burned.

Nearly 13 years have passed since a plane crash left 80% of Stephanie Nielson’s body burned. In the years since she has served as a beacon of hope for other burn victims and as a reminder to the rest of us of the value of life. On April 29, 2021, Stephanie and her husband, Christian, were honored by the Arizona Burn Center at Valleywise Health as part of their “Night of Heroes.” A short documentary about the Nielsons created for the event is now available to view online. In the video, Stephanie says it was seeing her eyes for the first time following her accident that changed her perspective and her outcome.

On August 16, 2008, Stephanie Nielson boarded a Cessna 177 Cardinal for a daytrip with her husband, Christian, who had recently earned his pilot’s license, and Doug Kinneard, Christian’s flight instructor and dear friend.

Following the accident that burned over 80 percent of her body, Stephanie Nielson lay in bed pretending she was asleep. She was avoiding therapists who, in an effort to aid her recovery, came into her hospital room to talk through the trauma she was experiencing after a plane crash that left both Nielson and her husband, Christian, so badly burned that they were placed in medically induced comas.

MR says: There was a time Stephanie Nielson thought she was a monster--that she would have been better off if she had died in the plane crash that burned over 80 percent of her body. But then, the love of her Savior and the knowledge of her divine worth changed how she saw the world and her place within it.

When the ATV that Baylee Hoaldridge, 15, was riding tipped on its side and burst into flames, Hoaldridge was trapped inside, stuck in her seatbelt until her grandfather managed to get her loose. But by that time, over 65 percent of Hoaldridge's body had already been burned.

For Stephanie Nielson, sitting on her Utah porch surrounded by her family isn't just a nice way to spend an evening: it's miraculous.

Stephanie Nielson wanted nothing more in life than to be a wife and a mother with a home full of faith. Nielson, who blogs at nieniedialogues.blogspot.com, had her happy life, with four children, her husband, Christian, and the daily adventures of life. She skied, taught yoga and was an avid runner.