Heather Whitestone

Heather Leigh Whitestone McCallum (born February 24, 1973 in Dothan, Alabama ) is a former beauty queen who was the first deaf Miss America title holder, having lost most of her hearing at the age of 18 months. . Heather Whitestone was born and raised in Dothan for the first seven years of her life. She lost her hearing when she was only 18 months old. She had haemophilus influenzae and was rushed to the hospital hours away from death. In order to save her life, doctors gave her strong antibiotics which left her with a profound hearing loss. Her mother, Daphne Gray, discovered her deafness. She had dropped pans on the kitchen floor and Heather did not respond. She had a 120 decibel hearing loss in her right ear and a 90 decibel loss in her left ear. Heather's mom, Daphne, decided that her daughter would read lips and learn to speak instead of learning sign language. Heather commented in her book, "Today's Heroes", that she was criticized in the deaf community for the decision not to l... Read more

I remember her being classy to go along with her beauty. Heather never let her deafness hold her back from succeeding. She was quoted as saying, "The only handicapped person is a negative thinker."

I worked in the Miss America Organization (on the production side) in the early 1990s and had a chance to meet a number of the ladies. Heather was, by far, the best in every way.