Kathy Wills
Kathy Wills has never really been your typical girl’s girl.
A lover of all things loud and unafraid to get a little dirty, this farm girl from the foothills of Cochrane had been an avid off- roader and mud racer for years before meeting her husband Ged in 2001.
Ged convinced Kathy to join the world of monster trucking and she became part of the team for his racing truck Sheer Insanity. For four years Wills worked alongside her husband, handling everything from office management to truck mechanics, but in 2005 — to the boisterous delight of monster truck fans — the couple decided to put her behind the wheel.
But while that decision certainly submerged Wills even further into monster trucking and the tireless dedication that comes with that, it also sparked a chain of events that has in many ways redirected her life’s passion. For her, driving a monster truck is about more than crushing cars.
For Wills, it’s about crushing breast cancer.
“We saw the ability to do so much more,” Wills says. “If we can help change even one person’s life or even help them take their mind off their troubles for an hour and a half show, then I’ve made my own life better.”
In the beginning it was just a simple tailgate dedication that read ‘Together we can crush breast cancer,’ but Wills soon realized just how many people breast cancer has affected.
“It just snowballed from there,” Wills says. “So many people would see the tailgate and share
their stories or experiences — sad ones as well as success stories.
“It became apparent to us that (breast cancer) struck a very personal chord with a lot of people.”
Wills saw the interest her tailgate was generating and decided to take the cause to a whole new level, giving her truck ‘TNT’ a major cancer- crushing makeover.
For the next three years Wills rode inside her Ford F550 regular cab, long box — powered by a 1,400-horsepower 429 Super Cobra Jet, front- mount motor — completely decked out in pink camouflage.
“Since we did the pink wrap and kind of really started advertising the
crushingforthecure.com website, the whole momentum just took off,” says Wills, who is an official supporter of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. “The new wrap was definitely the right move. I’m in a rolling billboard on 66-inch tires.”
Even though her main job was still the competitive performance aspect of monster trucking, she was simultaneously accomplishing her goal to spread a very important message.
“It’s not just the money we’re bringing in, which in all honesty isn’t that much compared to what some (supporters) are able to bring in,” she says. “But I bring an awareness to a group of people that normally wouldn’t (get that) and in such a different way.
“It’s hard to miss the big, pink monster truck.”
So many people desired that awareness that last August, TNT was converted from its powerful racing style into a ride-friendly showpiece. With Ged’s racing truck Sheer Insanity still going strong and now Kathy’s pink camouflage ride truck, the couple is able to get to so many more shows, further spreading Wills’ Crushing for the Cure message.
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