A Texas Short Film Shows a High School Student’s ‘Drive’ to Thrive Despite Disabilities

Back when she was in high school, aspiring filmmaker Campbell Wilmot decided to capture the day-to-day life of her longtime friend, Rhyle McKinney, who was born with a hole in her soft cleft palate and with perforations in both of her ears. In a short film called Drive, which screened this past September in Frisco at The Champion Film Salon International Film Festival, viewers learn how the Argyle native has been able to work through disability and make strides in basketball.

“I thought Rhyle had an awesome story,” says Wilmot. “She is an inspiration to everyone that I know, so I was so lucky that I was able to tell her story. She has always stood out as being so passionate about what she does, and never giving up, no matter the obstacles that she faces in her day-to-day life.”

In the beginning of the film, we learn from McKinney’s mom that the hole in her cleft palate made it difficult for her to eat and caused a lot of pain as well. Rhyle received her first pair of hearing aids in kindergarten, and she and her parents were equally surprised when she started to be able to hear small sounds, like the turn signal blinker in the family car or the footsteps of people around her.

In the short film’s present day, we see a teenage McKinney at basketball practice, something for which she has always maintained her motivation. When she was younger, doctors told McKinney she may not be able to play sports, but staying in the bleachers was not an option for her.

“When I would go to doctors’ appointments, they would say, like, ‘There’s no way, it’s just gonna be too hard, she’s not going to hear anything,'” McKinney recalls. “Sports kind of was a way for me to stay away from my problems and to get away from the things that I had to deal with. Basketball just helped me become almost like a different person. I didn’t feel like the person I was when I had to go to doctors’ visits, or when I have to sit down to do speech therapy sessions.”

Drive was shot and produced two and a half years ago, and Wilmot screened it this past May at the Texas Short Film Showcase. At the showcase, Wilmot was approached by someone from the Champion Film Salon International Film Festival, who wanted her to submit the film for the festival spotlighting filmmakers, film subjects and actors with disabilities.

“I think it’s so important to tell stories like this,” Wilmot says. “Especially because Rhyle is such an inspiration to others. Anyone that she comes in contact with just looks up to her, and I think she really inspires anyone to push through, no matter the difficulties that you’re facing.”

“It’s important to show those kids that they have something to look forward to in their life,” adds McKinney, “and having a film festival like this is a great opportunity for people to put themselves out there.”

In the two-plus years since Wilmot and McKinney made Drive, a lot has changed in their worlds. The two Argyle alumni are now in college. Wilmot is studying journalism at Arizona State University. McKinney, who shared in the film the news that she’d committed to play basketball at Southern Methodist University, is now playing basketball at Texas Tech.

McKinney is currently studying to become a basketball coach and will graduate with her bachelor’s degree in May, a year early. In the meantime, she coaches and trains children with disabilities to help them overcome challenges similar to those she has faced.

“I want other kids that go through what I’ve gone through to see that I’ve made it,” McKinney says. “I’ve been training a little girl here in Lubbock that was born with a cleft palate, and I met her, actually, at Lady Raider basketball camp. I’ve gotten people coming up to me, and wanting to work with me because of putting that short film out.”