After Christina Stephens lost her left foot in an accident this past winter, the occupational therapist began posting videos to YouTube and Facebook to address issues that new amputees often face. But it was a video that showed her building a prosthetic leg out of Lego blocks that caught the attention of millions, finally giving her an opportunity to share her story on a larger scale.

"I thought my Legos video had some viral potential, but I had no idea it would explode like it did," said Stephens.

According to Calgary Herald, her video garnered the attention of about 1.3 million viewers to date, something that the 31-year-old hopes will inspire other amputees. The nearly six-minute clip took Stephens about two hours to record and she time-lapsed the video to show each step of her building the multicolored prosthetic limb. She says that she can’t walk on the lego leg, but the goal of the video was to take away some of the stigma surrounding her disability.

"Part of what I want to do with my videos is de-stigmatize amputation and make it less scary," Stephens said. "The video is sort of a metaphor for rebuilding your life after a disability, but you can't really walk on it."

Stephens lost her foot in January. She was changing the brake pads on her car when the car fell and landed on her left foot. Her husband lifted the car off of her and rushed her to the hospital. Though doctors said that they could preserve the foot, they did warn that it might not ever be fully functional again. That’s when Stephens used her professional judgment to decide that amputating the foot would be better than living with and having to manage a low-functioning one.

"[The doctor] wanted to do a partial foot amputation with multiple skin grafts over my foot and ankle, possible fusions," she recalled.

Now, as people watch her videos – posted under the name “AmputeeOT” – they are immediately inspired by her courage, resilience, and light-heartedness.

"Without Christina I don't think I would have gone through with this," said Sherry Young, who decided that amputation was the best remedy for her ailments after watching Stephens’ videos. "I would have dealt with the pain and just kept walking on crutches. I'm very happy I made the decision I did."

Stephens plans to post more videos, including a “Lego Leg 2.0.” Watch her build her colorful leg in the video below:

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