Kitty O’Neil, born on 24 March 1946 and has been deaf since she was a young kid, rose to fame as a daredevil, stunt performer, and driver of rocket-powered vehicles.
She was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, to an Irish father and a Cherokee Native American mother 77 years ago. Kitty O’Neil experienced many illnesses in the months following her birth, each bringing a high fever. She eventually stopped hearing because of a high fever. But throughout her life, she adapted for varied audiences and learnt new communication techniques from her sister.
At the 1965 Summer Deaflympics, she competed in the 100 backstrokes and 100 freestyle swimming events.
She was the first female performer for Stunts Unlimited, the top stunt company, in 1976.
She performed stunts in a number of television and film productions, including The Bionic Woman, Airport ’77, The Blues Brothers, Smokey and the Bandit II, and others. A Kitty O’Neil action figure was created by Mattel in 1978 as a result of her career in stunt work.
Records
- O’Neil established the female driver’s land speed record on December 6, 1976, in the Alvord Desert of southeast Oregon. She was the driver of the “SMI Motivator,” a three-wheeled rocket automobile propelled by hydrogen peroxide that Bill Fredrick created for $350,000 (which would be $1.7 million in 2021). Its top speed was 621 miles per hour (999 km/h), with an average speed of 512.710 mph (825.127 km/h).
O’Neil achieved an average speed of 279.5 mph (449.8 km/h) while operating a hydrogen peroxide-powered rocket dragster built by Ky Michaelson in the Mojave Desert in 1977. The run is not recognised as a legitimate drag racing record because it was not duplicated in accordance with NHRA regulations.
- In 1977, O’Neil set a women’s record for speed on the water of 275 miles per hour (443 km/h), and she held a 1970 women’s water skiing record of 104.85 miles per hour (168.74 km/h).
- In 1979, she set a women’s high-fall record of 127 feet (39 m) at the 12-story Valley Hilton for the movie Wonder Women in Sherman Oaks, California.
She died on November 2, 2018, of pneumonia in Eureka, South Dakota, at age 72.In 2019, she was featured in the Oscars’ In Memoriam segment.
sometimes limitation becomes an assests if properly trained
IBA World Boxing Championships
