On an acreage in regional NSW in 1974 a 14 year old dirt bike champ named Dale quietly constructs a ramp and then jumps over his mum’s Toyota Corolla. Dale’s youth took place in the heyday of the flared-pant and cape-wearing motorcycle daredevil. In 1975 TV’s images beamed in from the US of Evel Knievel’s outrageous stunts, taking a hold of a generation of kids’ imaginations.
Dale was obsessed. He was going to be Australia’s Evel Knievel. Ken Buggins, a landscape gardener and hobby mechanic signed on as his manager and mechanic. Dale quickly made a name for himself doing stunts on his motorcycle at showgrounds around Australia. At the age of 17, he announced he was going to attempt to break Evel Knievel’s world record of jumping 25 cars he really turned heads. A star was born. Dale’s 16 year old sister Chantell joined the act and was soon spinning beneath Dale’s motorbike on a highwire 80m off the ground, in a sequined leotard, an act which is seared into the memory of anyone who saw it.
Then in 1981, at age 20, Dale asked for a notepad from his sister and went to bed early. The following morning he did not emerged. Chantell and their mechanic Terry Blackwell broke into his room and found Dale dead on his bed with a gunshot wound to his chest.
When the news emerged, it was muted and uncomprehending. Australia was not ready to talk about suicide. The media was silent, the public in disbelief. Dale’s story and memory were buried.
The Buggins family disintegrated and Chantell fell into a cycle of alcohol abuse and a series of ill-fated relationships, harbouring overwhelming guilt, which she had tried to ignore. Decades later, in her 40s, Chantell stopped drinking and began learning about Traumatic Stress determined to help others not succumb as she did.
This film is homage to a forgotten Australian icon, but also an opportunity to reflect on our society’s attitude towards masculinity, suicide and mental health.
