Twenty-nine years ago, Stephanie Dixon entered this world with only her left leg.

This fall, that leg will carry her into the Canadian Disability Hall of Fame.

On Nov. 5, Dixon will be inducted via a ceremony in Toronto alongside local polio activist Ramesh Ferris and four others. Dixon and Ferris will be the first Yukoners to enter the hall of fame, which opened its doors in 1994.

Dixon, a highly-decorated Paralympic swimmer and coach of the Whitehorse Glacier Bears swim team for the past two years, called the impending induction "a huge honour.”

Officially, she is being inducted for her athletic achievements, which include 19 Paralympic medals – second most in Canadian history – and three world swim records in the S9 Para category.

Dixon competed at three different Paralympic Games over her swim career before retiring in 2010 to pursue a career as a coach. She competed in Sydney in 2000, Athens in 2004, and Beijing in 2008.

She also swam for the University of Victoria Vikes varsity team while pursuing a degree in psychology.

Tears welled up in her eyes as Dixon dedicated her latest honour to her late mother, Joanne.

Her mom lost her battle with cancer at the age of 60 just over a year ago.

"Even though she's not here, this award is a huge tribute to my mom,” Dixon told the Star during a sit-down interview yesterday afternoon.

"So much of your identity is ingrained into you at a young age,” she explained. "Her efforts continue to live on within me.”

Dixon grew up in Brampton in a home that refused to use the word "disability.”

Her father Mark and older brother Matthew always stood behind the young swim star, who got her first introduction to the pool at age two and made the national Paralympic team 12 years later.

"When I reflect on my accomplishments, I have to talk about the way I was raised,” Dixon explained. "My parents never felt sorry for me, and that's how I've been able to do all I've done. I was taught to embrace life.”

Dixon's love for life is evident to all who know her, said assistant swim coach Kathy Zrum.

"She brought a new vibrancy and youthful energy to the club,” Zrum said of her coaching counterpart. "She has a can-do kind of attitude. Even though she has a disability, it doesn't hold her back.”

She points to Dixon's successful winter snowshoe up Golden Horn mountain as a prime example of her willingness to tackle life's challenges head on.

That type of attitude has inspired her students – ducklings, Dixon would say – to remain positive and determined to meet their goals at all costs.

Her "energy and enthusiasm for everything” touched everyone Dixon has come to know in the Yukon capital, said Zrum.

Dixon's time with the swim club is coming to an end, as she is preparing to take on an ambassador role with the Canadian Paralympics Committee.

Her new job will see her travel the country as a "professional schmoozer,” promoting the Paralympic Games and athletes to potential sponsors.

"I'm getting paid to talk about myself, basically,” she said. "Most of the people I will talk to have no idea what's going through an athlete's mind. I'm trying to give them a more intimate connection.”

And Dixon's new adventures don't end there. She is also attempting to make a return to the Paralympics as a cross-country skier.

With the help of the territory's XC ski coach Alain Masson and national Paralympic ski coach Robin McKeever, Dixon has learned to enjoy the Yukon's much-loved sport.

After learning she had taken up skiing recreationally on the trails at Mount McIntyre, McKeever recruited Dixon for the national cross-country relay team, which will attempt to win gold in Sochi next winter.

While initially struggling with the sport, and unable to climb the steeper hills using her sit-ski, Dixon recalls the exact moment she decided to give skiing a shot.

Lashed by a dog harness to her friend Verena König last winter, the former swimmer was awestruck when the northern lights appeared in the night sky overhead.

"That's when I said ‘Yes, I can do this,'” Dixon explained. "Canada's never had a competitive relay team, and the Paralympics are always trying to recruit people with athletic ability. I've stayed fit and I'm ready to do what it takes to get there.”

To compete for the national relay team in Sochi, a team that includes multiple gold-medal winner Brian McKeever, Dixon will need to qualify as an individual athlete.

Her three-km time trial will take place Dec. 9 in Canmore, Alta.

To prepare, Dixon recently received a built-to-fit skateboard from Robin McKeever that allows her to train on any asphalt surface.

If she succeeds, it will mark another incredible feat in a career full of them.

Reflecting on her hall of fame induction, Dixon calls it a win for athletes with disabilities.

"It's important to recognize people with physical disabilities, because there's still a stigma here,” she said. "We are a country of equality, but there's not a lot of recognition for Paralympic athletes.

"It's getting better,” she acknowledged. "The Vancouver Paralympics in 2010 was a huge step forward. The fact that that we live in Canada and are allowed to do all this stuff … We are pretty luck to be here.”

See tomorrow's Star for coverage of Ramesh Ferris' HOF induction.