El Paso man flies paramotor in red high heels all for a good cause
A walk to end rape, sexual assault, and gender violence. That’s the goal for the YWCA of El Paso’s “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” event taking place this month.
Men of all ages walk in high heels to help the YWCA raise awareness, but one El Paso man took his love of flight to fly miles in red pumps instead.
“Chase has been a sponsor of walk a mile in her shoes for several years,” said Clint Chamales, an investment banker for J.P. Morgan Chase. “I did the walk for the first time last year and it was such a blast that I wanted to do it again,” Chamales said.
Clint is also a professional rate skydiver. In his free time, he takes to the skies.
“I’ve been doing that for almost 20 years,” Chamales said. “Part of skydiving is flying the parachute, a transition into another form of that is paramotoring.”
While getting ready to help promote the international men’s march to stop family violence and sexual assault, a small idea came to mind.
“(My colleagues and I) were there just kind of standing, stumbling around getting in position for this picture…I said I’d rather fly in these pretty red high heels and I’ll do 30 miles if I fly in them.”
What started out as a small joke turned into reality for a very serious cause.
“I flew around in them around the Franklin Mountains and surprisingly they’re very arrow dynamic,” Chamales said. “So, I was like ‘hey I’ll just leave them on’ and I left the on for like an hour, and so you break them in a little bit, getting ready for the event on Oct. 17.”
Wearing red heels in the ground or in the skies may be all fun and games, but it’s a chance for men like Clint to be reminded of the pain and circumstances some women face everyday.
“Women face challenges more so than men in a lot of ways,” Chamales said. “It’s a worthy cause for the YWCA to help them out at the same time. If you’re really tough you should be able to walk a mile in her shoes.”
ABC-7’s Erik Elken will be at the “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” event Thursday, Oct. 17 at San Jacinto Plaza in downtown El Paso.
KVIA 2019
