Stephanie Nielson
Stephanie Clark Nielson is a well-known Mormon mommy blogger who chronicled her survival and recovery from a plane crash on her blog “The NieNie Dialogues.”
In 2008, Nielson and her husband, Christian, were in a plane crash and subsequent fire that resulted in burns over 80 percent of her body. She was in a coma for three months then weathered painful treatment that included multiple surgeries, skin grafts, and physical therapy.
Her positive approach to life, her dedication to her family, and her honesty about her recovery led to increased awareness of her blog. She appeared on the Oprah Winfrey and Today shows. An article about her appeared in People Magazine. She is featured in a popular YouTube “Mormon Message” video for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, of which she is a member. She is a popular speaker at Brigham Young University Women’s Conference and Deseret Book’s Time Out for Women.
In April 2012, Nielson gave birth to her fifth child. She also published her first book, Heaven is Here: An Incredible Story of Hope, Triumph, and Everyday Joy, which spent several weeks on the New York Times bestseller list.
In a stirring October 2013 LDS General Conference address on mental and emotional challenges, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, one of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ, told about her experience and her ability to fight “her way back from the abyss of self-destruction.”[1]
