Inspired: People with Disabilities Breaking Barriers
There are 56 million Americans with disabilities alive today, representing approximately one in four people. Disability culture and activism has existed from ancient times to present, but we rarely hear about people with disabilities, who are often seen as victims. Disability culture is the celebration of the uniqueness of disability; it is about visibility, pride, and changing societal perceptions of value and contribution. It isn’t about people with disabilities being included in society, but people with disabilities driving and transforming society.
“Inspired” is a series of essays that tells the story of people with disabilities: renegades, rebels and revolutionaries who changed the world and whose stories should be told.
Kitty O’Neil: Fastest woman in the world
Kitty O’Neil was a daredevil, stunt woman, racer, and…deaf. Like most of the people in this series, her story isn’t so much about her disability as it is about her accomplishments and her adventures. O’Neil’s stunt work was transformational in the entertainment industry, and her racing set world records.
Kitty O’Neil was born on March 24, 1946 in Corpus Christi, Texas to a Cherokee mother and an Air Force father. While still a baby, she contracted several diseases simultaneously, causing a high fever which destroyed her hearing.
Determined to ensure her that daughter have the best possible start in life, O’Neil’s mother went back to school at the University of Texas to learn how to teach the deaf. She spent years working with O’Neil to read lips and speak but refused to allow her daughter to use sign language. Despite the communication issues, O’Neil flourished in school, taking up the cello and participating on the swim and diving teams.
In 1962, O’Neil and her family moved to California so she could train in platform diving with Olympic gold medalist, Sammy Lee. O’Neil was becoming one of the top divers in the country, and she had her sights set on the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. Unfortunately, she broke her wrist in a diving accident and contracted spinal meningitis. Spinal meningitis can spread rapidly throughout the body and, without treatment, can lead to paralysis, brain damage and even death in only a few hours.
O’Neil recovered but she wasn’t interested in diving anymore. “I got sick, so I had to start all over again, and I got bored. I wanted to do something fast. Speed. Motorcycle. Water skiing. Boat. Anything.” And O’Neil did it all. She discovered a love for speed in all its forms.
She started racing motorcycles, dune buggies and cars; participating in events like the Baja 500 and the Mint 400, the oldest and most prestigious off-road race in America. At one of her motorcycle races, O’Neil met Duffy Hambleton, who would introduce her to the world of Hollywood high-stakes stunt work.
O’Neil thrived in that environment. For the next few years, she dangled out of windows, flipped cars and was even set on fire several times. She worked on well-known films such as, “Smokey and the Bandit II,” “The Blues Brothers,” and popular television series such as, “Baretta.” In fact, O’Neil doubled for the iconic stars of both “The Bionic Woman” (Lindsay Wagner) and “Wonder Woman” (Lynda Carter). In less than five years, O’Neil’s reputation and skill behind the wheel would lead to what was perhaps her greatest adventure.
On December 6th, 1976, Kitty O’Neil became the fastest woman in the world. Speeding across Oregon’s Alvord Desert in a three-wheeled rocket car called the SMI Motivator, she clocked an average of 512.710 mph. (For an official land-speed record, the driver must make two passes across a measured course, one out and one back; officials then average the two speeds.)
While in the driver’s seat, O’Neil had barely pushed the Motivator to 60% of its capacity. She had blasted past the women’s land speed record by almost 200 mph with some observers claiming that during parts of the run, the Motivator was clocking a top speed of more than 618 mph. To give some context, the average passenger airplane cruising speed is about 575 mph. And O’Neil was ready for even more speed.
“There is no doubt that by dialing in more power — giving herself a harder kick in the rump, as it were — Kitty could have gone still faster, past Gabelich’s record [Overall land speed record 630.388 mpg] and possibly across the sonic barrier.” – Sports Illustrated, A Rocket Ride to Glory and Gloom, Jan 17, 1977
However, she would not get the chance at another run in the Oregon desert. Under O’Neil’s contract, she was only supposed to break the women’s land speed record. Marvin Glass and Associates, a Chicago toy design company, had already contracted with famed stuntman and movie director, Hal Needham, to try for the men’s record. In addition, they had developed a toy line featuring Needham and already invested more than $75,000 in marketing for him to be the “fastest human in the world.” It was reported that Needham had demanded O’Neil be pulled from the driver’s seat, and according to several news sources, a public relations representative stated that it would be “degrading for a woman to hold a man’s record.”
“The company felt that Needham was a remarkable commodity, but it would be difficult to market Kitty. Kitty is deaf.” -Lakeland, Ledger, The Day Kitty O’Neil Couldn’t Break The Record, May 18, 1977
O’Neil filed a lawsuit for the right to drive the Motivator and make another attempt at breaking the record, but in the interim, her career and reputation continued to rise. In 1977, O’Neil piloted a jet-powered boat to a record speed of 275 mph, becoming the fastest woman on water. That same year she set the fastest quarter mile in history in a rocket dragster at 3.22 seconds.
In Hollywood, O’Neil continued her stunt career. She was especially known for her skill with high-fall stunts. One of her most memorable stunts was in 1979 during the filming of the “Wonder Woman” episode, “Phantom of the Roller Coaster.” She leapt off the Valley Hilton hotel in Sherman Oaks, California to fall 12 stories (127 feet) onto an airbag. It was a new high-fall record. Deciding that wasn’t enough, she broke her own record less than a year later falling 180 feet onto an airbag. This time, she jumped out of a helicopter!
O’Neil passed away from pneumonia on November 2, 2018. She was 72 years old. Her accomplishments speak for themselves, but are also visible in a new generation of racers and thrill seekers, such as deaf sprint car and NASCAR racers Brett Wanner and Kris Martin; Ashley Fiolek, deaf motocross champion turned stunt actor; and non-disabled racer, show host and “Mythbuster” Jessi Combs.
“Deaf people can do anything. Never give up. When I was 18, I was told I couldn’t get a job because I was deaf. But I said someday I’m going to be famous in sports, to show them I can do anything.” – Kitty O’Neil, Talk at Holy Trinity School for the Deaf, Chicago, Illinois (1979)
