The Right Foot

Rightfooted trailer

Those of you who know me, know that my life today is full of opportunity.  In the past few years I’ve traveled around the United States and the world — Asia, Africa, Europe, South America and the Middle East — sharing my story.  I like to think I’ve inspired many people from all kinds of backgrounds and ages, both normal and differently-abled.  That has always been my dream.  But there is only one of me, and so many people to reach.  That is why I have always hoped that I might be able to create a documentary film to share my story with the world. 

In November of last year, an Emmy award winning documentary filmmaker named Nick Spark asked if we could meet — not to make a film, he just wanted to meet me!  But as we spoke informally about my coming wedding (then a mere five months away), we both realized what an important moment it represented for me.  The perceived barrier of being different held me back from seeing the person I was.  But now I’ve learned to accept myself for who I am, and have found happiness. 

Nick loved the story of my wedding and said he felt it could be the launching point for an even bigger project.  So even though we had no money and very little time to plan, we decided to work together and begin to fulfill another dream of mine.  So in the whirlwind months leading up to my wedding, Nick got our project blessed by the non-profit International Documentary Association (IDA), and planned a production.  Then some wonderful friends kicked in some seed money — just enough, as it turned out, to allow Nick and his team to film me from my bridal shower to my wedding day. 

Today, Nick and I are proud to release the fundraising trailer for Rightfooted.  Keep in mind when you do, that this is just the beginning of a much bigger project — a film that tells my life story and shows the many places I’m visiting and people I’m trying to touch. 

Projects like this cost a great deal of money, and we won’t be able to make this film without your support.  So please consider making a tax deductible contribution to the film through the IDA. Whether you can do that or not, please help us get the word out about this important project by sending the trailer to ten friends.   Every person you share my story with gets me closer to fulfilling my goal.

Watch the trailer by clicking on YouTube below.

Filming on Friday the Thirteenth

The three day filming schedule for Rightfooted was planned weeks in advance.  Without realizing it, the day we dedicated to filming at the airport fell on Friday the 13th. 

I did not think much of it given I have invited many film crews to the San Manuel airport where I trained to fly.  Cameramen from Japan, Russia, Korea, Brazil, England, France have sat in the passenger seat and gone up with me on what was their first flight in a single engine airplane.  Initially the cameramen are usually quite terrified but only after a few minutes in flight they realize my proficiency as a pilot and relax. 

In my mind filming on Friday the 13th was just going to be another one of those filmed flights.  The morning started with the sound of my alarm clock going off at 3am.  I knew the only thing that was going to wake me up was a shower.  I had to dart out the door after a fast breakfast because I had to swing by the office to pick up my logbook and certification.  I asked my brother if he wanted to come and he agreed so Patrick picked both of us up. 

We pulled into the airport right on time at 5am.  I was surprised to find Parrish, my flight instructor, already in the office.  The film crew arrived and they started rigging up the cameras in the airplane.  After Parrish received a quick tutorial by our camera guy, Bill, we went up on a flight.  It was decided that Parrish be the person to go up with me to film the flight just in case. It had been four months since I had last flown solo.  I was a little rusty!  One thing about flying is that it takes constant practice and flying without practice is quite dangerous. 

We went up just in time to catch a beautiful sunrise.  After a smooth touch and go, we came down and set up the hanger for the interviews. Terry Brandt, the examiner who gave me my check ride, drove down from Phoenix to do an interview. It was great to talk with him since it had been three years since I had seen him last. 

When he was finished, I did my interview leaning against the wing of the Ercoupe.  The noise of the other planes at the airport taking off made it difficult to film.  It was a beautiful day for flying so there were quite a few planes out.  Each time an airplane taxied, flew past or took off we had to stop filming and then restart up when it was gone.  This made for a long filming process. 

We were about to wrap up with my interview when a Piper Cherokee lined up at the end of the runway for takeoff.  We stopped for the Piper’s engine run up.  What we think happened next was that during the takeoff, one of the wings lost lift.  Regardless of what the investigators find was the problem, the Piper was out of control and heading right at the hanger in which we were filming.  Bill, the cameraman yelled “Run!”, I darted out of the hanger one way, the production assistant and Nick, the director, ran the other direction while the cameraman and sound guy ran inside the hanger. 

The Piper bounded over the taxi way and hit the other parked Ercoupe with it’s wing.  Sadly it was the same Ercoupe I had flown earlier in the morning.  The impact with the Ercoupe redirected the Piper away from the hanger.  The Piper’s left wing almost completely tore off under the stress but held on long enough to spin the Piper around and finally stop. 

Parrish came from the other side of the hangers and ran to the plane, climbed on the wing that was not broken and pulled out the passenger and pilot.  The plane was leaking fuel so Nick grabbed an extinguisher and sprayed it down.  Everyone walked away that day and we were very lucky.  Fortunately the only blood lost in the whole ordeal was by Nick when he was removing the metal safety wire on the extinguisher.

As always, I ask that if you would like to help us continue filming to bring this story to life, please consider a tax deductible donation.  Even $5 will help us get closer to our goal.

(Source: rightfooted.com)

Back to my Stomping Grounds, Filming Day 2

The second day of filming for Rightfooted took place about an hour and a half south of Tucson in my home town of Sierra Vista.  I was born there and only moved to Tucson when I was 14.  I took my first Taekwondo class there as well as my first dance class.  Both my brother, sister and I went through the public school system there so it was a great chance to catch up with some familiar faces and add a little history to the documentary.

I wanted to have a couple shots of walking around my old schools and talking with old friends.  Nick, the director, agreed.  In exchange for allowing us to film on the campus I offered to do a motivational talk with the students.

Connecting with a Seventh Grader

At the end of my presentation, a seventh grade student came up to me and said
that my being there that day and speaking to the students made her feel she was not alone.  She was hearing impaired.

I realized I inspired many but this student reminded me the real reason why I do what I do and likewise why I am doing the documentary.  Yes it is inspiring to see what I can do and hear about all that I have been able to accomplish. 

The significance of my presentation is more than just motivating.  I try to remind people that they are not alone just as this seventh grader expressed.  It is one thing to get people motivated but it is another thing to connect with someone and give them hope.  It is hard to be “different,”  especially in seventh grade. 

In seventh grade, I remember being ostracized but here I was being celebrated for my difference.  I told her that what set her apart now would be her advantage in the future.  All in all that was the most rewarding thing about filming on day 2!

Meeting a Nurse

Back when CNN published a story about me, a nurse in El Paso, Texas sent me an email.  The nurse had been in the delivery room the day I was born.  I was her first delivery. 

She told me the story of how my delivery had been so surprising and evidently traumatic, that she was ready to quit her job.  Her coworkers and supervisor encouraged her to continue. 

Today she is still a nurse.  She shares her experience with new trainee nurses telling them they can never know what to expect.

Nick and I met her at Sierra Vista Community Hospital.  The staff at the hospital was kind enough to let us actually film in a birthing room. 

I will always have fond memories for Sierra Vista.  Filming gave me a chance to reflect on a great many things and ask questions I never had a chance to ask before. 

As always, I ask that if you would like to help us continue filming to bring this story to life, please consider a tax deductible donation.  Even $5 will help us get closer to our goal.

(Source: rightfooted.com)

Filming with my Mentor

As you may have read a little while back, I met another woman who did not have arms that helped me figure out and see how to overcome different challenges living an independent life.

I was reunited with her this past Wednesday to film a couple scenes for Rightfooted, the documentary.  It has been a decade since that day of coffee in the diner.  Since then both of our lives have changed.  Now I fly planes and she is a body builder.  I had the opportunity to watch her in her new element.  She was practicing for her first national competition.

Read More

(Source: rightfooted.com)

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Documentary Making

Last December I received an email that I thought I had received a dozen times before.  The email was from someone named Nick Spark asking if I was interested in participating in a documentary.  A quick look on YouTube will show TV and news articles that have been done about my flying and life.  I have to admit, people are afraid of small airplanes enough as it is and to see someone flying with their feet catches their attention.  But quite frankly, filming those is starting to get old for me.  For example it took four days to film the 20 minutes that made it into Beyond Belief on OWN.

However, Nick wanted to do something different.  He wanted to do a feature length professional documentary.  Well actually I had already worked with a friend of mine on creating my own hour long documentary.  Nick wanted to meet and see my documentary and to show me his most recent work.

He had recently finished producing a documentary called The Legend of Pancho Barns and the Happy Bottom Riding Club.  To give you a summary, Pancho was a rival to Amelia Earhart but the documentary argues that Pancho had more talent and skill than Amelia but lacked the publicity powerhouse that made Amelia famous.  And Pancho wasn’t afraid to speak her mind and speak she did.  Quite colorfully too.

Nick did an amazing job putting the film together especially given the extremely limited footage of Pancho.  So well done in fact that the film received an Emmy Award.

Despite all the work that had already been put into my documentary, I saw the possibility of doing better.  Though as either a memento or future “extra footage” I will hold onto it.

So having teamed up with Nick, now we had to figure out the details of the story.  More on that next time.

If you would like to help make this documentary a reality with a tax-deductible donation, please visit our International Documentary Association webpage.