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Last updated on Friday, November 14, 2014
(SELLERSBURG) - A Sellersburg mother is redefining beauty after her physical appearance dramatically changed on March 2, 2012. Stephanie Decker is hoping to prove her new charity is “worth it” as she in line to receive a major award from an international cosmetics company.
The TV ads usually feature glamorous super models like Beyonce. But this month, L'Oreal Paris is showcasing a double amputee on its website - Stephanie Decker.
"I got a phone call that said we were one of the 10," Decker said.
She and nine others are finalists in the cosmetic company's "Women of Worth" competition, all recognized for their charity work.
"A steel beam fall right on my leg," Decker told WDRB in March 2012. "Large amounts of blood started coming out. It was that point I knew my leg was severed or it was barely attached."
Decker lost both of her legs two and a half years ago as the tornado that barreled through Henryville, Ind., brought down her house.
She laid her body over her two children as the walls came crumbling down.
Since then she's used her injury for advocacy, starting the Stephanie Decker Foundation.
"We help children that are limb-different learn to play able-bodied sports," Decker said.
The foundation works to provide scholarship money so that children missing a limb can attend sports camps designed just for them.
"Not only are we giving them the tools to be an athlete. We're giving them tools for life," Decker said.
Her charity also works to provide top-of-the-line prosthetics to those without access to the latest technology.
She praises the top-of-the-line prosthetic that have changed her life.
"I can walk, run, swim ... I can do absolutely everything I did before," Decker said.
If she gets enough votes, L'Oreal will give Decker's foundation $25,000.
She finds out Dec. 2 at a gala in New York City.
"Is this something I expected to do? No, it's not. But do I love doing it? Absolutely," Decker said. "This is my job and life now. It's what I'm passionate about that's what makes it so enjoyable."
Visit www.lorealparisusa.com for the L'Oreal Paris 'Women of Worth' contest to vote for Decker.
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