Haven Shepherd (born March 9, 2003) is a Vietnamese-American Paralympic swimmer.[1][2] In 2018, she was included on the BBC 100 Women list.[3]
Shepherd was born Do Thi Thuy Phuong in Quang Nam province, Vietnam after her parents had an affair.[4][5][2] When she was 14 months old, her parents died in a bomb explosion, either as a double suicide or as a murder-suicide perpetuated by her father.[4][5] Although Shepherd was also intended to die in the explosion, she was instead blown 40 feet away and only sustained damage to her legs.[6][7] An older half-sister also survived the explosion.[4][5] Shepherd was brought by her grandmother to a hospital in Da Nang, where both her legs were amputated.[4][5] At age 20 months, she was adopted by an American couple from Carthage, Missouri, who had six older children.[5][6]
Shepherd learned to swim by age 3.[6] She was homeschooled.[1]
Shepherd began swimming competitively at age 10.[6] By the time she was 13, the US Paralympic team began tracking her as a potential candidate based on her times.[5]
At the 2020 Paralympics, Shepherd came fifth in the Women's 200m Individual Medley - SM8.[7][6]
Shepherd uses prosthetic legs.[4]