Caleb McDuff is set for great career as a racing driver

Tindle News

Transcript

00:00Now then, finally tonight, the story of 16-year-old Caleb McDuff from South Wales,

00:06who hopes he's on track to become the world's first deaf Formula One racing driver. Caleb was

00:12diagnosed as deaf at the age of two after several ear infections. He had cochlear implants fitted,

00:18which did help him hear, but when he started racing just a few years later, there was a problem.

00:24The implants didn't fit inside the helmet, but that all changed when he signed up with

00:30a world's first competitive all-disabled team. Zola Hargreaves has the story.

00:37When you exit the pits and just floor down the car and then just the best part of going from

00:43first, second to third and then just feel that warmth on the engine, it's just the best part.

00:54If I didn't have racing in my life, I don't know, I don't know what I would be doing if I wasn't

00:58racing. Caleb McDuff has been behind the wheels since he was four years old. My dad bought me

01:12a go-kart for Christmas and I've been going to local go-kart track and that's where I pretty

01:19much started off. When we first found out Caleb was deaf, especially once we decided he was going

01:26on the route of having cochlear implants, we were fully aware that he couldn't do any sort of contact

01:30sports, football, rugby, things like that, and I came across a Canadian driver called Chris Martin,

01:37who's a deaf driver, trying to get a NASCAR and he sort of inspired me to look at motorsport.

01:43For many years, Caleb had to remove his cochlear implants to race.

01:47This meant that he was driving in complete silence.

02:00We learned to work around it and Caleb learned to adapt, so we started to feel the car.

02:04You could see him respond to things differently to everybody else. He could even feel the presence

02:12of another car because the ear vibration was different. For me, I think it helps me focus more

02:17what's ahead of me. It makes me a unique person and it makes me more interesting because people

02:23will be like, how do you race in silence? And I'll be like, that's just me, like,

02:28just show them who I am, basically.

02:33This year, Caleb signed for Team Brit, the world's only competitive all-disabled racing team.

02:39They have been working on new ways of communicating with Caleb,

02:43so he can take his career to the next level.

02:46We knew that when we signed Caleb as a driver, we had to provide some sort of tech solution

02:51to make sure that when he's driving, he can be completely safe and he can still be competitive,

02:56and that's really critical in endurance racing.

02:59One of these elements is a mini-mic,

03:01which adapts his cochlear implants to be able to communicate with the pit-to-car radio.

03:06The sound processor can't be comfortably worn under a helmet, so what we've created is the

03:11mini-mic, which uses extended wiring so he can wear the processor outside of his helmet.

03:17We then connect the pit-to-the-car radio to these processors and mix it with the sound

03:20from a microphone in the car so he can hear the race engineer through the radio and hear the car.

03:26There aren't many sports where disabled people truly can compete equally,

03:32because we can use tech in ways like this to level the playing field.

03:38With the sound, it's more enjoyable, I'd say, because, like,

03:42to hear all that pops in my head, it's just the best part of racing, I'd say, yeah.

03:58To think back to when we first learned that he was deaf, that we just didn't think he'd

04:02have any sort of, like, career in any kind of professional sport, or he may even struggle

04:07just to get some ordinary jobs, you know, we were completely unaware of what was possible.

04:14Everybody is just in awe of him, and I'm in awe of him, and he's doing such a good job.

04:21It's just incredible that this little kid from South Wales is becoming a star, I think.

04:30What I want to do is show people that your disability doesn't stop you from doing what

04:36you want to do, and just keep being you, and just follow your dream, basically,

04:41because, like, I am deaf. I don't let that stop me from doing what I want to do.

04:52Yeah, Caleb McDuff, remember the name, and good luck, and a big thanks to him for sharing

04:58his story with us. That is it for tonight. Nick Savini will be here next week, and if

05:03you think we should be looking into a story in your area, you can always email us waleslive

05:09at bbc.co.uk. Thanks for watching. From all of us on the team, no star. Good night.

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