Deaf News Briefs: Kitty O’Neil honored; Elderly deaf woman injured in Austin
Google honors Kitty O’Neil with illustration by deaf artist
If you go to Google.com today, you will notice that there is a piece of art with a woman holding a helmet with a race car and a helicopter. It is an illustration of Kitty O’Neil, a deaf woman who was a famous stuntwoman and race car driver.
Today, March 24, is O’Neil’s birthday. She died in 2018 at the age of 72. Google said today would have been O’Neil’s 77th birthday.
Google said the illustration was done by a deaf guest artist named Meeya Tjiang, who lives in D.C. She has a website that shows more of her work, the link is in the transcript.
Google’s tribute said O’Neil made it into the big screen as a stunt double for films and TV series in the late 70s. She was called the “fastest woman alive” after she drove a rocket-powered car across a desert at 512.76 mph. She wanted to try and break the men’s record, but her sponsors didn’t allow it because they didn’t want to see a woman beating a man. Her record stood until 2019.
Happy birthday, Kitty O’Neil, and congratulations to the deaf artist Meeya Tjiang for getting the honor to create an illustration for Google.
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Austin Chronicle: Elderly deaf woman’s arm broken after ordeal at airport
The Austin Chronicle reported that a 71-year-old deaf woman from Florida is considering a lawsuit against the city of Austin after she was arrested and had her arm broken by a jailer after a misunderstanding at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. The woman’s name is Karen McGee.
The article explained that on September 13, 2022, McGee was waiting for a connecting flight from Austin to Seattle. She was nervous because it was her first time flying. She used hearing aids, but they weren’t working well, and she sat near the ticket desk at her gate to make sure she wouldn’t miss her plane. She noticed that the plane never came and when she spoke with a ticket agent — it appears she used her voice to communicate — she was told that her plane changed gates. McGee didn’t hear the announcement. She got a ticket for another flight and as she was texting her cousin about the situation, she found out that there was another plane going to Seattle, so she asked an agent if she could get on this flight. She had a hard time understanding the agent but understood that they said “no.” McGee then approached a different agent to make the same request but that agent called the police. It is not clear why the agent felt the need to call the police.
The article shows a screenshot of body camera footage showing at least three officers surrounding McGee, who is visibly startled. The officers placed McGee in a wheelchair and pushed her to the front of the airport, where she was handcuffed and taken to the Travis County Jail on suspicion of trespassing. There, she was stripped of her clothing and an officer in the jail twisted her handcuffs with enough force to break her arm. She was not taken to the emergency room and was only given Aleve. She was in jail for three days and when she made it home to Florida, she had surgery on her arm.
The article said a local prosecutor chose not to prosecute after examining the trespassing case.
McGee now has a legal representative named Rebecca Webber, who is experienced in representing deaf clients who have had bad experiences with law enforcement. Webber said the officers in her situation did not ensure that McGee could hear them.
Now McGee is considering a lawsuit.
https://www.google.com/doodles/kitty-oneils-77th-birthday