A trip with school friends changed Stef’s life forever (Picture: Helene Wiesenhaan/BSR Agency/Getty Images)
The memories of August 6, 2000 and what started off as ‘the best weekend of my life’ still play back vividly in Stef Reid’s head.
For a start there were arguments beforehand, as Stef, then 15, pleaded with her strict mother Carol to let her visit lakes in rural Canada with her best friends.
Later, having been allowed to go, Stef recalls with crystal clarity the thrill and excitement of racing along the water in a tube, being pulled by a speedboat.
‘You bounce along the waves and eventually you’re thrown into the water, as I was,’ she says. ‘I turned to wait for the speedboat to come back and collect me.’
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However, in the final horrific seconds, Stef realised the driver of the boat hadn’t seen her in the water. And what happened next changed her life. ‘In a split second I realised he was heading straight for me – and my brain shifted into survival mode,’ says Stef, now 41.
‘I thought, “Stef, you need to avoid those propellers”, so I tried to dive under the surface to safety but I had a lifejacket on.’
Stef Reid is now a Paralympian (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)
‘I have this memory of darkness in the water and suspension in time. I was underwater and swam towards the light on the surface. I remember thinking, “Wow, that was really lucky, I won’t tell my Mum,” because I didn’t realise anything was wrong.
‘I couldn’t see my legs and after a few seconds I felt weird sensations. Shock, terror and panic set in.’
A lifeguard on the boat swam to support Stef in the water. When pulled back on board, she was bleeding profusely. The propeller had left deep gashes along her back and mangled her right foot. ‘I wanted to talk but I couldn’t get the words out,’ says Stef.Back on land, ‘my friends made a stretcher out of a deckchair and put me on the back of the van.
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‘A neighbour who was a nurse sat beside me as we raced to meet the ambulance.’
Mum Carol, who is English and married to Scotsman Philip, arrived at the hospital. As surgeons began to discuss a possible amputation, she pleaded with them to remove her own healthy foot and graft it on to Stef’s mangled limb.
‘I’ll never forget my mum begging the surgeon, “Can you amputate my leg and give it to Stef?”,’ she says. ‘And after all those years of teenage arguments and disagreements I learned in that moment that my mum put me first in everything.’
Stef and her mother Carol had a strained relationship, but the accident brought them closer (Picture: Supplied)
‘All those times as a teenager when I was angry with her because she was too strict, I realised she just wanted me to be safe.
‘I never fought with her again. I realised she loved me so much, she would sacrifice her own leg to help me. It made me realise how lucky I was.’
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Stef remained in hospital for three weeks, with Carol, now 71 and a retired bookkeeper, sleeping on a chair beside her bed. The teenager had to face the reality that her dreams of becoming a professional rugby player were in tatters.
‘I was angry, miserable and in pain,’ she says. ‘I had to accept that sport wasn’t going to be part of my life and threw myself into my studies instead.’
Stef returned to school with hopes of becoming a surgeon. Two years later she was given her first running blade. While studying biochemistry at Queen’s University in Ontario, she asked to join the running team.
‘I wondered just how fast I could go,’ she says, and soon Stef was running alongside the non-disabled team. She was invited to run in Manchester at the age of 22 and paused her academic studies to train for the Paralympics as a long-jumper and sprinter.
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Carol is one of Stef’s biggest supporters (Picture: Supplied)
The gamble paid off. Stef won a bronze medal in the 200m at the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing when representing Canada, and silver in the long jump at the London 2012 Paralympics for Great Britain.
With her British parentage, Stef moved to the UK full time in 2011 to live and train in Leicester, turning to inspirational speaking and broadcasting after retiring from athletics in 2022.
Behind each of Stef’s successes has been Carol, her biggest cheerleader.
Stef now lives in Loughborough with husband Brent Lakatos, a Canadian wheelchair racer.
‘Mum gave up her weekends to drive me to competitions and she was always in the crowd shouting “Go, Stef, go!”’ says Stef, whose success extended beyond the track to include appearances on TV shows Celebrity MasterChef and Dancing on Ice, where she made it to the quarter finals.
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Which of those two was the most nerve-wracking? ‘The scariest was Dancing on Ice,’ she says. ‘I wasn’t a natural skater and it was so nerve-wracking because I’d have an epic fall in every final practice, which made the live skate on television so much worse hours later.
‘My legs used to feel like jelly but I realised I could still function under all that stress.
Dancing on ice was one of the biggest challenges Stef has taken on (Picture: Matt Frost/ITV/Shutterstock)
‘Celebrity MasterChef in 2018 was wildly different because I had very little experience of cooking and I misunderstood the show.
‘I thought I’d be mentored and taught in every episode. When I realised there was no training involved, I ended up watching YouTube for hours every day, learning how to cook.
‘The skills never left me and now I can at least throw a fantastic dinner party!’
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Next up, Stef is presenting TV coverage of the Winter Paralympics in Italy – which begin this Friday – from a studio in Toronto. She is also a diversity ambassador for British Ice Skating, an inspirational speaker and a high-performance coach.
‘My best advice is just go for it,’ she says. ‘My life could have been wrecked when I was 15 but I would never have achieved what I have without losing my foot – or without my amazing mother helping me every inch of the way.’
Stef Reid recently launched the Hail Mary Friday Club for those looking for a gentle shove to live with more boldness and joy. Visit stefreid.com
Cambridge have extended their dominance of the men’s Boat Race, overcoming some of the most choppy and windy conditions in recent memory to win for the fourth consecutive year.
With a team packed with internationals and Olympians that have swept all before them this year, Cambridge arrived as clear favourites to chalk up yet another win after only losing once in the past decade.
Cambridge began strongly, despite the slight disadvantage of starting from the Middlesex station, before Oxford rallied gamely during a messy middle section of the race.
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Both teams were warned by the race umpire and there were a series of close calls between the oars of the two sets of rowers.
With water frequently lapping up into the boat in virtual sea conditions, there were briefly even fears that one of the boats could become submerged.
Oxford’s unexpected resistance was brave, but there is no bluffing over the 4.3-mile Championship Course and Cambridge gradually eased to a comfortable four-length victory to win what was the 171st Boat Race. It was Cambridge’s seventh win in eight years to extend their overall lead since 1829 to 89-81.
While the Dark Blues were again defeated in the men’s race they had had something to celebrate in the earlier women’s race, ending a 10-year wait since their last victory.
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After starting from the supposedly slower Middlesex station, Oxford led from literally the first stroke to the last, prevailing over Cambridge for the first time since 2016.
Since then, the Light Blues had won eight times in a row, with the 2020 edition cancelled during the Covid-19 pandemic. In front of their proud parents, sisters Lilli and Mia Freischem became the first siblings to compete against one another in the Boat Race, with Oxford’s Lilli securing family bragging rights.
The Dark Blues powered off, taking a lead of half-a-length within the first minute. Cambridge rallied but, as the crews then settled going into the first turn just after Hammersmith Bridge, Oxford had already established clear water. This was vital given that Cambridge had won the toss, and choosing the Surrey station would have given them an advantage on that bend. The Oxford lead mitigated that advantage hugely, however, as they could then move across into the water in front.
Dozens of people were taken to the hospital after the bee swarm attacked a crowd in Panama (Picture: Bomberos De Panama)
A swarm of bees has left 150 people injured, with 50 in hospital, after it attacked a crowd at an Easter event.
Residents in the town of Penonome in central Panama, South America, were left shocked after a colony of Africanised bees, or better known as killer bees, swarmed the neighbourhood.
The swarm happened during the Via Crucis religious procession, known in English as the Stations of the Cross ceremony, which is often held on Good Friday to represent Jesus’s journey to the crucifixion.
Around 150 people were injured in the attack, while 50 were taken to nearby hospitals for treatment.
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The local fire department said the recent bee attack marks a series of several in the region this year (Picture: Bomberos De Panama)
According to local outlet Destino Panama, among those injured was the priest who led the religious event, the local fire department said.
The local fire department was called to the scene and shared footage on its social media showing residential streets lined with several emergency service vehicles.
It is not known what caused the swarm to descend on the crowd, but attacks are more likely to occur between January and April when food is scarcer, and the dry, hot weather can make them more irritable.
The swarm marks a series of several bee attacks in the region, with more than 1,820 recorded cases in January and February this year alone, Destino Panama reported.
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What are killer bees?
Killer bees, also known as Africanised bees, are a hybrid strain of African and European honey bees, according to the Natural History Museum.
The bees were bred by Brazilian geneticist Dr Warwick E Kerr in 1956 in an effort to improve honey production in Brazil.
The hybrid species combines the European bees’ ability to generate greater honey yields with the African honey bees’ better adaptation to warmer climates.
African honey bees are naturally more aggressive than European varieties – a trait which has been passed onto killer bees.
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They are only found in parts of North, Central and South America.
Locals were left shocked after the swarm attacked the neighbourhood (Picture: Bomberos De Panama)
Can killer bees actually kill humans?
Despite their rather dangerous name, a single killer bee is no deadlier than any other honey bee species, the Natural History Museum says.
Killer bees tend to be smaller than honey bees with short wings and carry less venom.
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What makes them appear so deadly is when they are forced to defend their nest.
When a European honey bee is threatened, only 10% of the bees will venture out of their hive to protect their home.
Killer bees can be deadly in swarms, but a single killer bee is no deadlier than a European honey bee (Picture: Getty Images/Westend61)
In comparison, killer bees will empty their nests, flying in swarms of around 300,000 to 800,000.
Their numbers can increase exponentially, as with every sting, a pheromone is released to signal for more bees from the colony to join the onslaught.
It is estimated that around 1,000 stings could kill an adult human.
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However, it is important to note that killer bees do not attack for no reason.They use their stinging defence when they genuinely believe their colony is at risk.
During an in an interview with YouTube channel Avirales which was released last weekend, Fernandez was not directly asked about Real Madrid but was questioned on which city he would like to live in.
‘I’d like to live in Spain. I really like Madrid, it reminds me of Buenos Aires,’ Fernandez said.
‘Players live where they want. I’d live in Madrid. I get by in English, but I’d be more comfortable in Spanish.’
‘There are eight games left and the FA Cup. There’s the World Cup and then we’ll see.’
Chelsea drop Enzo Fernandez for two games
On Friday, Chelsea manager Liam Rosenior confirmed that Fernandez will not be selected for his side’s FA Cup tie against Port Vale on Saturday, or their Premier League match against Manchester City next Sunday.
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‘It’s disappointing for Enzo to speak that way,’ Rosenior said.
‘I have got no bad words to say about him but a line was crossed in terms of our culture and what we want to build. As a character, a person and a player, I have the utmost respect. He’s frustrated because he wants us to be successful.
‘In terms of the decision, it’s not all about me, or the sporting directors. The ownership, the players, we are aligned in our decision.
‘The door is not closed on Enzo. It’s a sanction. You have to protect the culture, and in terms of that, a line was crossed.’
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Enzo Fernandez posted a picture from Chelsea’s training ground on the day of the team’s FA Cup tie vs Port Vale (Instagram)
Enzo Fernandez’s agent brands decision ‘unfair’
Fernandez’s agent, Javier Pastore, has said that the Argentina international does not understand the decision and could ‘explore other options’ this summer.
‘The punishment is completely unfair,’ Pastore told The Athletic.
‘Banning the player for two matches, which moreover are also absolutely crucial for Chelsea because qualification for the Champions League is at stake and he is one of the team’s most important players.
‘There’s no real reason or justification for why he has been banned. Enzo didn’t understand the situation. When the coach told him he accepted it because he’s a highly professional guy who’s always fully committed wherever he is and respects decisions, but we don’t understand the punishment because he doesn’t mention any club or say he wants to leave Chelsea, far from it. He only mentions Madrid, the city.
‘Our plan after the World Cup is to meet with Chelsea again and, if there is no agreement, to explore other options.’
The restaurant serves square pizzas that you can order in half and full sizes.
An Italian restaurant in Cambridge has been named one of the best in the region. Tradizioni won the award for the best restaurant in the East of England at the UK Italian Awards 2026.
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The UK Italian awards celebrates businesses across the UK with regional awards being given out to “give the whole country a chance to shine”. Other categories included best chef, best pasta restaurant, and best tiramisu.
To win the award, Tradizioni had to register and acquire enough votes from the public to be shortlisted as a finalist. The restaurant was then visited by the award’s judges, who then decided on the winning businesses.
The Gala Final Dinner was held on Monday, March 30, in London where all of the winners were handed their awards. The evening was designed to “celebrate everything that makes us proud of our unique ties with Italy”.
Found on Mill Road, the restaurant first opened in 2014 and has made itself a staple food spot on the street. Tradizioni serves a range of traditional starts such as burrata with rocket and cherry tomatoes, bruschetta, and fritto misto.
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In terms of its main courses, the restaurant has plenty of popular pasta dishes to choose from as well as steaks, lamb chops, and fish. Tradizioni also offers pizzas but rather than the usual round shape, the pizzas are square and come in half or full sizes.
You can either book a table in the restaurant or enjoy your meal at home by ordering a takeaway. You can also order products and ingredients from the deli shop to recreate your favourite dishes from Tradizioni at home.
Reviews of Tradizioni describe the restaurant as a “beautiful place” and the food is “consistently lovely and authentically Italian”. Tradizioni can be found on Mill Road next to Sedgwick Street.
The restaurant is open from 12pm to 10pm on Tuesdays to Saturdays and from 5pm to 10pm on Mondays.
It’s the seventh time in eight years that Cambridge have come out on top in the Men’s race
Cambridge have secured their seventh win in eight years of competing in the Men’s Boat Race against Oxford. It means the Light Blues have continued their run of recent dominance over their fierce rivals.
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But it was a different story for Cambridge in the Women’s race, who were beaten for the first time since 2016. The Light Blues have dominated over the past decade, but it was Oxford who came out on top after a blistering start.
Oxford burst into the lead from the start and maintained the place at the front all the way to the finish line. It was a closely-fought battle of strategy with Cambridge holding on right until the final few hundred metres, but it was Oxford who took victory in the rough and windy conditions.
“I’m excited that I’m not too wet,” Sammy Houdaigui, cox for Cambridge men, told Channel 4. “That was a fantastic race. All credit to Oxford and the eight rowers. We had the right athletes in the boat and I’m glad I got to be a part of it.”
Harry Geffen, for Oxford, said: “It’s mixed emotions. We’re gutted to come away with a loss. A lot of people thought we’d roll over but we gave it all we had. That’s racing.”
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He added: “It was pretty rough out there. We practiced for that, especially yesterday. Nothing quite prepares you for when you’re 12 minutes deep and questioning whether you’ll make it. We stuck in there and that’s all you can do.”
She felt really proud to hit the milestone just in time for Easter
Olivia Snoddon’s 100th Parkrun
This 10-year-old is celebrating the Easter weekend by marking a huge athletic milestone.
Olivia Snoddon, who has a personal best time at the weekly 5K in Hillsborough Forest Park, took part in her 100th Parkrun on Saturday morning.
And the Co Down schoolgirl marked the occasion in style, storming to a new personal best of 21:31 and an impressive age grading of 79.32% – her previous PB was 22.05 minutes.
Olivia told Belfast Live afterwards: “Today I ran my 100th Parkrun and I felt really proud. I love coming every week and seeing everyone, and all the volunteers are so kind.
“I’m really happy all my hard runs helped me get a PB. It felt amazing to finish today, and I’m excited to keep going and reach my next milestone.”
She started taking part in the Parkruns with her dad Steve when she was just eight years old and quickly developed a strong passion for running.
These days, Olivia is often one of the first people to arrive at the event and has progressed to the point where she is now regularly the fastest female taking part overall.
Olivia’s dedication has also been recognised at a regional level, having recently qualified for the Northern Ireland Athletics Junior Cross Country Endurance Squad. She is also a proud member of Lagan Valley Athletics Club minis.
Speaking to Belfast Live ahead of Saturday, dad Steve said the family are all very proud of Olivia and her achievements: “We’re incredibly proud of Olivia. To reach 100 Parkruns at just 10 years old is a fantastic achievement, but more than that, it’s her attitude.
“She genuinely loves running, is always up early and ready to go, and gives it everything every single week.”
Today, Nasa has launched its first crewed mission around the Moon for more than 50 years.
The Artemis II mission will last about 10 days and take its astronauts further into space than anyone has been before. The four-person crew will not land on the Moon but will circle it, aiming to set the stage for an eventual human landing for the first time since the 1960s and 70s.
Adam is joined by space scientist, Dame Maggie Aderin-Pocock and astronaut Tim Peake – who together host the podcast 13 Minutes Presents: Artemis II.
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You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say “Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast”. It works on most smart speakers.
You can join our Newscast online community here: https://bbc.in/newscastdiscord
Get in touch with Newscast by emailing newscast@bbc.co.uk or send us a WhatsApp on +44 0330 123 9480.
New episodes released every day. If you’re in the UK, for more News and Current Affairs podcasts from the BBC, listen on BBC Sounds: https://bbc.in/4guXgXd
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Newscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. The presenter was Adam Fleming. It was made by Jack Maclaren with Shiler Mahmoudi . The social producer was Gabriel Purcell-Davis. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.
Chelsea take on Port Vale this evening with a place in the FA Cup semi-finals up for grabs.
Liam Rosenior’s men have had a bruising last few weeks, crashing out of the Champions League and faltering in the race to finish in the Premier League top five.
The Blues were beaten heavily by Paris Saint-Germain on the continent, losing 8-2 on aggregate in the last 16. In the league, they stumbled to defeats by Newcastle United and Everton as they lost ground on Manchester United, Aston Villa and Liverpool in their bid to secure a top-five place.
This Easter fixture against League One’s basement boys Port Vale gives Chelsea a huge opportunity to stop the rot and return to winning ways, with the added bonus of reaching a major semi-final.
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Vale themselves are practically down already from the third tier, 14 points adrift of safety with eight games left to play.
The Valiants are currently led by experienced head Jon Brady, but don’t come into this clash with any kind of consistent form. A 1-0 win over Bolton Wanderers in late March was a pleasant surprise, but they were brought crashing down to earth with 1-0 and 4-0 defeats by Doncaster Rovers and Wycombe Wanderers respectively.
In the FA Cup, however, they have been a completely different prospect.
They stunned Sunderland in the fifth round to earn their place in the hat for the last eight, with Ben Waine’s first-half strike enough to send them through at Vale Park. That followed another upset in the fourth round, as they beat Bristol City by the same scoreline at home, with Waine notching in extra time.
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Date, kick-off time and venue
Chelsea vs Port Vale is scheduled for a 5.15pm BST kick-off tonight, Saturday, April 4, 2026.
The match will take place at Stamford Bridge.
Where to watch Chelsea vs Port Vale
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TV channel: In the UK, the game will be televised live on BBC One as well as TNT Sports 1. Coverage on the BBC starts at 5pm BST, while the TNT coverage begins at 4.30pm.
Live stream: You can stream the game live and for free on BBC iPlayer with a TV licence. TNT Sports subscribers can also catch the contest live online via the HBO Max app and website.
Chelsea vs Port Vale team news
After a season of what feels like continued injury crisis, there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel for Rosenior.
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Yes, there are still absentees, but nowhere near as many as Chelsea have had to deal with this term.
Benoit Badiashile was struck down with a virus ahead of the international break and could be in line for a return here, while Filip Jorgensen underwent a “small operation” on a groin problem.
Jamie Gittens was seen back in team training, but was held back from the 3-0 defeat at Everton after suffering a slight setback in his hamstring rehabilitation.
As for Vale, they have a few former Premier League stars in their ranks.
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They include ex-Manchester United goalkeeper Ben Amos, former Burnley and Watford striker Andre Gray, and the old Norwich winger Onel Hernandez.
On the treatment table, however, are two of their star players.
Midfield orchestrator George Byers, formerly of Sheffield Wednesday, is out, and so is target man Jayden Stockley.
Ex-AFC Wimbledon defender Ben Heneghan and Ryan Croasdale are also sidelined.
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Chelsea vs Port Vale prediction
This should – in theory – be a relatively straightforward game for the hosts.
But questions are still likely to be asked of the fringe players, and of Rosenior, depending on how much he rotates here.
With the FA Cup now the Blues’ only remaining hope of silverware this term, surely he goes strong?
A “masculinity crisis” is building in schools across the UK, a teaching union has warned, after almost a quarter of female teachers it surveyed said they have been subject to misogynistic abuse from a pupil in the last year.
For the fourth year in a row NASUWT teachers’ union has surveyed a rise in teachers reporting misogyny from pupils – up to 23.4 per cent from 17.4 per cent in 2023.
One teacher said she was called a “f****** slag” by a pupil, while others said sexual noises and gestures were made at them, they were called misogynistic names and said they were meowed at by male students.
Another teacher responding to the survey said a student had made naked images using artificial intelligence (AI) of her and others.
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For the fourth year in a row NASUWT teachers’ union has surveyed a rise in teachers reporting misogyny from pupils (Ben Birchall/PA) (PA Wire)
“We have a masculinity crisis brewing in our schools,” NASUWT general secretary Matt Wrack said.
“Teachers desperately need increased support to deal with this new frontier of behaviour management – it affects the wellbeing of everyone in the classroom.
“This generation of teachers faces an unprecedented task that requires urgent action from policymakers.”
The latest poll of more than 5,000 teachers focuses on female staff rather than students. It found more than one in five teachers said they have been subject to sexist, racist or homophobic language from a pupil in the past year.
Female teachers described being ignored and mocked by their pupils, including being referred to as “love”, told to “calm down”.
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Many female teachers reported that pupils say misogynistic things to them after they attempt to address concerns about their behaviour, the NASUWT said, and some say male pupils do not listen to them because they are female.
One teacher said she faced misogyny on a daily basis, including abusive language.
“Have had boys joke about raping girls in front of me and laughed about it when challenged,” the teacher said.
“Parents have told me if I can’t handle teenage boys then I need to ‘work in a f****** nursery’.”
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The latest poll of more than 5,000 teachers focuses on female staff rather than students (David Jones/PA Wire)
Mr Wrack said: “If female teachers are reporting that they cannot contain gender-based aggression in their classrooms – and that is exactly what they are telling NASUWT – then we have a ticking time bomb on our hands.
“These pupils are the same boys and young men who will go on to be husbands, fathers, and colleagues in the workplace.
“They may eventually develop influence in the public sphere.
“We must help them and their victims – including teachers – before it is too late.”
He said social media and artificial intelligence companies must be held responsible for misinformation spreading on their platforms, and face sanctions if they do not.
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Mr Wrack added: “Our young people are being exploited to feed tech billionaires’ endless appetites for profit and power, and our education system is under attack as a result.”
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “Misogynistic views are not innate, they are learned, and we are committed to using every possible tool to achieve our mission of halving violence against women and girls.
“Our updated RSHE guidance is designed to make sure all young people can identify positive role models, and we are providing resources to support teachers to recognise the signs of incel ideologies so we can intervene effectively, including through the Educate Against Hate programme.
“We are strengthening our mobile phones in schools guidance to make it even clearer that schools need to be mobile phone-free environments and launching a consultation to seek views from experts, parents and young people to make sure children have a healthy relationship with phones and social media.”
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