1975 would be a slow start for Jan. For the first 8 and ½ months she was pregnant. During the summer, she and other members of the team, at the time known as Janet Lee’s International Daredevils, would drive cars from Albuquerque to Denver doing shows every weekend. A Labor Day Special was planned for August 31st. Jan was promoted all summer to be in that show to do a Human Bomb Act, a Leap of Death, and a Suicide Twist. The joke was that she would have to “be in labor” before Labor Day or she would miss the show! Finally on August 13th Billy, Jr. was born and 17 days later accompanied his mom to Denver for his first show! They finished out the season in New Mexico and Las Vegas, Nevada. Spent the winter in Phoenix where they met Gary Wells. Before the year was out Jan traded a Ford Pinto to Gary for one of his CR 250s. She spent as much time as possible in the desert with it becoming proficient enough to start doing stunts.
The 1976 season would be the first time the show carried a motorcycle jumper. At first the jumps were done by a male jumper, soon, though, Jan would be destined to fly. On May first the show was to perform in Mexicali, Mexico in a local baseball field to benefit the blood bank. All of the usual acts were to be done, the motorcycle jump, the human bomb, the leap of death, the suicide twist, the firewall, the tunnel of death, the human battering ram, the t-bone and even a roll-over. It was a late afternoon show and the crowds had already been waiting for hours as the crew set up for the show, Jan was in the U.S. at the time. On her return to the baseball field in Mexicali she was informed, with only one hour’s notice, that she would be doing the motorcycle jump. The jumper had been injured earlier, wrecking the jump bike in the accident, the only bike she had to use didn’t have a speedometer on it. Much like the rest of the stunts she had done before, she just said “OK”. She may never have gotten into cycle jumping had it not been for this twist of fate. She did practice runs by the jump while someone else, owner of the motorcycle shop in El Centro, rode another bike (with a speedometer) along side her to help her gauge her speed. At the time for the jump she just went for it. Her back wheel landed at the edge of the catch ramp leaving a small dent on the top. She went on to do a Leap of Death, a Suicide Twist and the bomb act (Miss Dinamita in Mexico). From that day forth she was the motorcycle jumper. The season continued with more motorcycle jumps, bomb acts and car crashes throughout Arizona and Texas. In one of the shows, for Independence Day, she was called the Human Firecracker. One of her next jumps would be in a show at a Honda and Kawasaki Dealership. The promotion was a Grand Opening and she would jump over 60 motorcycles, twice. Although both jumps went well the second was almost canceled due to rain. It was only a few minutes after the jump that the rain started.
The 1977 season started in February with a benefit jump to raise money for the family of a police officer who had been killed in the line of duty. Most of the shows now were motorcycle jumps and the crew had been reduced to only two stunt people. One of those jumps was done in the parking lot of a shopping center in Las Cruces, New Mexico. This is where Jan met Mr. Bob Duffey, who was extremely benevolent in attitude considering this was his hometown! He had given her an autographed photo. The jump went as planned over five cars with barely enough room to stop the bike before she would have gone onto the highway. In May she was to do another double jump at a Kawasaki dealership, this time in the gravel parking lot. The first jump was a little short but she still made it without a problem. This caused her to overcompensate on the second jump. The approach was too fast. As she overshot the landing ramp altogether, landed in the gravel and the bike went out from under her. This was the first crash she had done without intending to! With minor injuries on the chin and left elbow, both requiring stitches, she was released from the hospital to check out the damage to the new bike. Since it was superficial, the dealership fixed it within a day. Her next set of jumps would be in the same town, but a different venue, the fairgrounds. In this show a car dealer had provided some used cars for the jumps. The first jump was just a little short. This didn’t end in a crash, though, the back wheel landed on the top of the last car, leaving a very distinguishable tire track! She was afraid that she might have to cover the damage financially but the dealer was so excited about it that he put the car on his showroom floor with a sign and a photograph of the jump! The second jump went fine. The next week she did another jump as a battle of the sexes. The other jumper was a local motorcycle dealer. The jump went well and his jump was a crowd pleaser in his hometown. The next jump would be her last.
June 25, San Angelo, Texas, the Concho River. Donny Winn had tried to jump this river two years in a row crashing both times. Janet had the idea to cross from the opposite direction so that is how the jump was set. It was a Saturday afternoon show during the “Fiesta del Concho”, with huge crowds of people standing on both sides of the river waiting for the jump. The time had come for the performance and she was a little apprehensive, still making practice runs. The speed just didn’t seem to be enough. Another few minutes went by, and as she had learned so well in the passed few years, the show must go on. She went out into the street where she started her approach with a wave of her hand meaning that this was the real thing. As she neared the up ramp, went over the curb and onto the grass, the accelerator decreased just a little as she hit the ramp. The jump ended on the opposite bank of the river. Janet hit the bank with her head and right elbow. Paramedics (called the emergency corps at the time) where at her side within seconds, one of her brothers was there to take her helmet off, another one there to pull the jump bike out of the river, the engine still running. If the bike had been going any faster she would have hit the landing ramp full force, not landing on it but into it. . She was in the ICU with a concussion, still not conscious and paralyzed on her right side for six hours before any response. She had dislocated her right elbow and broken it in three places. No one knew how this story would end but everyone waited, until on Tuesday morning she awoke to reporters at her bedside waiting for the story. Although at the time she was still thinking she would jump more, in fact, after weeks of recovery, she retired from stunt work at the age of 22. She is now gathering photos, film and any other memorabilia she can to include in a photo journal of her stunt career.
