Will Hall and Steve Suroviec
Special to the Post-Gazette
“The car was very small and I couldn't get in it,” the Italian race driver Alex Zanardi said about test-driving a modified Formula 1 car for BMW. “So I said: 'Well, I could make my feet smaller.' I'm the only driver on earth who can do that. I changed my feet.” He changed his feet from a size 44 (American size 10 1/2) to a size 36 (American size 5).
Zanardi began racing at the age of 13 in racing karts he built himself, and moved up to Formula 3 and then between 1991 and 2001 to CART racing and Formula 1. In September 2001, he was in an accident that resulted in the amputation of both of his legs.
His career seemed to be over. But following his recovery, he acquired two prosthetic limbs and returned to professional racing. Four years after the accident, he won his first world series race in the World Touring Car Championship. He’s even participated in triathlons.
Zanardi was able to continue to perform as a race car driver at the highest levels due to the use of assistive technology. Assistive technology is any item, piece of equipment, or product system that increases, maintains, or improves the functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities. People with barriers to accessibility use it to work, travel, and live independently.
The technology can change people’s lives, but too many people who need it can’t get it, leading to joblessness and financial insecurity. Prior to the Covid pandemic, people with disabilities “were more than three times as likely to be out of the labor force as people without disabilities.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control, 28% of people living in Pennsylvania have a disability. Many of them will be among the 28% of Pennsylvanians the United Way identifies as Asset Limited, Income Constrained, and Employed (ALICE), and the 12% living below the Federal Poverty Line.
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