On September 30, 2022, Sarah de Lagarde was returning from work when tragedy struck at London's High Barnet subway station. She fell into the gap between the train and the platform, and there was no one around to help her. Trapped by the train, she couldn’t free herself. Soon after, another train arrived, hitting her again.
I called for help, but no one responded. I knew I might die on those tracks, and I mentally accepted it. But then I thought of my children and told myself that I had to return to them, that I owed it to them
- she recalled.
"She Had Almost Completely Lost Her Right Arm and Leg"
When the ambulance and firefighters arrived at the scene, Sarah had almost completely lost her right arm and leg.
She was trapped in a very awkward position, so I crawled under the train to help the firefighters get her out. We moved her onto a special device that lifted her onto the platform. We had to act carefully but quickly - her right arm and leg were nearly severed. She was quiet and calm. And pale
- recalled paramedic Kevin Cuddon.
When she arrived at the hospital, she felt like everything was happening outside of her.
It felt like I was in a theater, like a spectator. They asked me to sign a consent form for the amputation of both limbs, and I asked them to charge my phone so I could call my husband. I had to somehow tell him that I had been run over by not one, but two trains
- she recalled. Later, the doctors told her that she "nearly died ten times" that night. The thought of being disabled for the rest of her life terrified her. Determined to return home to her children as soon as possible, she threw herself into rehabilitation. While she was learning to walk with a prosthetic leg, her husband organized a fundraiser for a prosthetic arm. The hard work soon paid off.
Her Mother Gave Her a Painting of Kilimanjaro
Sarah had climbed Kilimanjaro once before the accident. When friends visited her in the hospital, they kept saying, "You know, one day you'll climb it again". She also received a painting of the highest African peak from her mother.
It was meant to drive me through rehabilitation and the fight. And it did - there’s something about that mountain that inspired me. I can’t zip up my dress on my own, I can’t put on earrings, I can’t take a shower - everything is really hard. Our daughters had to grow up quickly. But somehow, I managed to get back to that mountain
- she emphasized.
On August 15, 2024, she stood on the summit of Kilimanjaro as the first woman with a double amputation to do so. Accompanied by doctors, her husband, and daughters, she found motivation in their support when the pain set in. "Standing at the summit was a moment of triumph over adversity, not just for me, but for anyone who has faced challenges and overcome them (...) Up there, I felt such a huge relief that I burst into tears. A beautiful place, with otherworldly views" - she said in an interview with BBC Radio.
