KiDZ Neuroscience Center at The Miami Project’s Special Screening of Rapid Response Documentary
About Motorsports Safety Pioneer Dr. Stephen Olvey
The advance debut of the gripping new Rapid Response documentary based on associate professor of clinical Neurology and Neurosurgery, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine’s Dr. Stephen Olvey who’s book, Rapid Response: My Inside Story as a Motor Racing Life-Saver was recently shown at the Landmark Theater at Merrick Park as part of a fundraising event for the KiDZ Neuroscience Center at the Miller School’s Miami Project to Cure Paralysis. The film chronicles Dr. Olvey, a motorsports safety pioneer, trackside on a fascinating journey exploring the history of motorsports safety during some of the most dangerous years in professional racing.
Many drivers and motorsports personalities, including Emerson Fittipaldi, Adrian Fernandez, Bruno Junqueira, Darrell and Jerry Gwynn, and Miami Project Co-Founders Dr. Barth Green and Marc Buoniconti joined the 160 plus supporters who packed two theaters to watch the film. All came out in support of Dr. Olvey as an acknowledgement of his contributions to the safety of the sport and how so many have been helped by his motorsports safety work.
“The KiDZ Neurosciecne Center is at the forefront of keeping our children safe. We continue to do our best to educate children in our schools, and the public at large about the importance of safety, but that education takes time and resources. Funding continues to get increasingly more difficult to come by, so that is why raising funds through this event is so important to our cause of saving our most precious resource,” said Dr. Gillian Hotz, associate research professor of neurological surgery, director of the KiDZ Neuroscience Center.
As a member of Dr. Gillian Hotz’s team at the KiDZ Neuroscience Center, Dr. Stephen Olvey wanted to share this special screening of the Rapid Response documentary as a fundraising and awareness opportunity for her important safety programs. Rapid Response highlights the devastating racing accidents and injuries that pushed safety innovation into the modern age and features interviews with motor racing legends Mario Andretti, Bobby Unser, Al Unser, Rick Mears, Chip Ganassi, Parnelli Jones, Tony Kanaan and Hélio Castroneves. The film will have its official debut at this year’s Indianapolis 500 later this month.
“My good friend Dr. Stephen Olvey is not only a pioneer, but a giant in the motorsports world. If you’ve ever wondered how some of these drivers walk away from some of these horrific accidents, the movie shows that Dr. Olvey has been at the forefront of keeping these amazing drivers safe and alive and that is what the KiDZ Neuroscience Center is doing for our greatest asset, our children,” said Marc Buoniconti.
The University of Miami KiDZ Neuroscience Center at The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis is dedicated to reducing the number of children and adolescents that sustain brain and spinal cord injuries. Since 2001, we have brought injury prevention to youths in South Florida, through our evidence-based WalkSafe, BikeSafe, SkateSafe, and County-Wide Concussion Programs. Through partnerships with Miami-Dade Public Schools, City of Miami Parks, the Miami Dolphins Foundation, and many other community organizations, we’ve been able to help children throughout Florida enjoy outdoor activities as safely as possible.