Kiruna Stamell's already won the South Pacific Silverstar Tap Dancing Championship. Next up, fighting crime, evil, and injustice just like Astroboy...
Name:
Kiruna Stamell
Age:
28
Disability:
Person of restricted growth.
Since:
Birth as genetic condition.
Explain:
There are over 200 different types of dwarfism, each caused by different genetic factors. I have acromeseomerlic dysplasia.
You truly felt like a disabled person when...
I came to England and discovered the BBC ouch podcast. I had found a beautifully eclectic group of people with all sorts of different impairments and physicalities. I found that our commonality was difference.
The most embarrassing thing to happen because of your disability/impairment is:
Nothing that wasn't someone else's issue.
Common misapprehensions about your disability/impairment (i):
There are so many. People never cease to surprise me with their prejudices.
Common misapprehensions about your disability/impairment (ii):
That we must all be entertainers.
What's the worst thing anyone's ever done to you as a result of your disability/impairment?
Snuck a picture of me on their mobile phone.
What's the best?
When people are totally comfortable with it and just aren't fazed.
Extraordinary fact:
In 1994 I won the South Pacific Silver Star Tap Dancing Championship
Superhero skill:
Astroboy. I loved that animation in the 80s.
What's the most common thing people assume you can't do because of your disability that you can?
Have sex. Stand up for myself. Exist.
What has your disability given you?
Experience of difference, and that is one of the most valuable experiences to ever have.
Most annoying things you miss (or have never had):
A break from prejudice.
The things you can't live without:
Family, love and friends.
The person you'd most like to be marooned on a desert island with is:
Stephen Fry
The three things you'd take to a desert island (nothing useful allowed) are:
The internet. A laptop. A drumkit.
The first thing you'd do when you arrived on a desert island is:
Sit down.
You live...
Because I am not convinced by the alternative.
You fund your lifestyle...
Through work.
The things you'd miss about your home are:
My family.
The thing that most annoys you about other disabled people is:
When they climb a mountain like Everest, literally, in the hope they'll change local attitudes to disability and raise awareness but still can't get their local pub to put a ramp in... and let someone carry them up the steps.
The thing that annoys you most about non-disabled people is:
When they are ignorant.
You don't feel disabled when...
I am in an accessible environment.
What makes you most angry?
Ignorance.
What makes you most depressed?
When I feel socially isolated.
What was the happiest moment of your life?
I forget and remember them all the time, over and over again... there is no one moment, just a string of them.
What was the saddest?
I'll never tell.
What was the most romantic?
I am currently hoping to top it, so don't want to say in case I jinx it all...
The thing you love most about your friends is:
Their thoughtful funny eccentricities.
The thing you hate most about your friends is:
Nothing.
How would your life be different without your disability?
I find this such a dangerous question. I don't know, I've been short forever.
Anything you want to add?
Yeah, why are you so fixated on my disability? There is way more to talk to me about.
