Christy Smith

Christy Smith is a contestant from.

Christy earned the distinction of being the first disabled Survivor contestant, being deaf.

Profile
Christy Smith attended high school and college in Washington, D.C., where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology/criminology from Gallaudet University. She most recently worked as a children's adventure guide for the Aspen Camp School for the Deaf. Previous to that, she worked as a facilitator at Hemlock Overlook in Virginia.

Smith is deaf (she can hear minimal sounds but relies on lip-reading skills). Her primary motives for being on SURVIVOR are to promote awareness for the deaf…and win $1 million. Her favorite hobbies are socializing, doing anything outdoors and writing letters. She has traveled to Costa Rica and spent 50 days on a wilderness adventure trip in Alaska with Outward Bound. She describes herself as succulent, independent and goal-oriented. She is most proud of the time she has spent working with juvenile delinquents where she taught them how to work in groups to develop growth and self esteem.

Smith is currently single and resides in Basalt, Colo. Her birth date is September 13, 1978.

Survivor: The Amazon
Christy was placed on the all-female Jaburu tribe at the start of the game. When Jaburu reached their camp, Christy revealed that she was deaf and asked everyone to say their names all over again. The tribe had mixed reactions. Heidi Strobel felt that the communication barrier would be a problem. Christy was unable to communicate with the other women at night because she could not see. Camp life at Jaburu was disorganized. However, the women won immunity because the men fumbled on the balance beam. Christy sat out of the reward challenge because it involved hearing ability, which Jaburu won. Christy preferred to hang with the older women, such as Jeanne Hebert. When Jeanne told Christy that Joanna Ward felt that having the immunity idol in camp was a bad idea because it went against her religious beliefs, Christy viewed it as stupid. Joanna over heard her and argue with Christy. Jaburu lost immunity challenge. Christy voted against Jenna Morasca for her attitude towards Christy and got a vote from Joanna because of her attitude. In the end, Janet Koth was voted for being the weakest and allegedly smuggling a granola bar into the game. Jaburu won the next two challenges., earning them toiletries and immunity. However, things turned sour when Jaburu lost the next two challenges. Christy agreed with Deena Bennett with voting out strong Joanna over the emotional Shawna Mitchell, who asked to be voted out.

The tribe received tree mail informing them that they need the youngest person to go out on a night of fun. The youngest was Jenna and when she returned, she announced that the tribes has switched. Christy along with Heidi and Jeanne would moved to Tambaqui. The three women decided to stick together. When they arrived, the women was welcomed in open arms and the tribe bonded well. The men was amazed with they found out about Christy's hearing impairment. Unfortunately, the new Tambaqui lost immunity. After drawing sticks, the women decided to vote for Butch Lockley. However, Jeanne was voted out in a 4-2 vote. Although she knew it was irrelevant, Christy asked why was Jeanne was voted out instead of her. Roger Sexton said it was because Jeanne was the weakest link in the new tribe. Satisfied, Christy felt that she was normal for the first time in the game. Butch was particularly happy seeing the smile on her face. Dave Johnson noted what Roger told Christy is father from the truth. At the Reward Challenge, Christy defeated Jenna both times she went up. This won Tambaqui spices, seasonings and a fruit basket. Tambaqui also won immunity.

On Day nineteen, the tribes were allowed to open the box that been there since Day one. The box said that the the tribes had merged. The new Jacaré moved to a new area for the rest of the game. Roger didn't let the women help with the shelter. Irked by this, the women targeted him because they feared Roger would not voluntarily vote for a woman in the Final Tribal Council. At the same time, the Jaburu men (Alex Bell, Matthew von Ertfelda and Rob Cesternino) were becoming annoyed with Roger's bossiness. At the Immunity Challenge it came down to Christy and Deena. Both women decided to end the Immunity Challenge for spaghetti and meatballs. Christy lost the rock-paper-scissors and immunity. Although Christy got three votes at Tribal Council, Roger was voted out in a 7-3 vote. At the next Reward Challenge, Christy was paired with Rob and Butch. They lost the challenge though. At the same time, Matthew was obsessing with the machete. Christy was creeped out by Matthew. At the Immunity Challenge, Christy was knocked out in third. Jenna won immunity and Dave was unanimously voted out.

Christy lost the next Reward Challenge. A feud erupted between Alex and Deena and both wanted the other out. Christy had a difficult time at the eating contest, which Matthew won for immunity. Christy sided with Deena, but everyone else voted her out. Christy was now in the the minority of the tribe, along with Matthew von Ertfelda and Butch Lockley. Christy viewed the majority in disgust. She was particularly annoyed because they didn't do any work around camp. At the Survivor Auction, Christy beat out Jenna for a letter from home. The letter gave Christy much emotional support. Rob approach Christy about joining them to oust Alex, who told him that he was going to get fourth. Christy was happy about she view him as drooling over the other women. The plan worked and Alex was blindsided. In danger of being pecked off, Jenna and Heidi appealed to Christy saying when they were gone, she would be the next to go. Christy was intrigued by the offer. At the Reward Challenge, because of Matthew's generosity, Christy was able to spent time with her boyfriend, Brent. Christy was torn between going to women (who she felt she had a better chance of going to Final Tribal Council) or the men(Who she liked better). Jenna won immunity. Rob talked to her about her decision, which she did not know what to do. Horrified about Christy being a swing vote, Rob schemed with the other women and Matthew to get her out. Jenna and Heidi eagerly accepted. At Tribal Council, Jenna gave immunity to Heidi. Rob's plan came together and Christy was blindsided in a 4-2.

At Final Tribal Council, Christy first greeted the finalists. Christy first asked Matthew what was his reaction when he learned that Christy was deaf. Matthew said that she was going to be treated normally. Matthew added that he treated her like the others and assumed she just had a funky accent. Christy then questioned Jenna about how is her beauty a handicap, which Jenna had stated at a previous Tribal Council. Jenna answered that she was asked about how she was perceived by the tribe and didn't mean her beauty was like the handicap Christy had. Jenna clarified that she felt being a young, attractive, swimsuit model that people would assume she was weak, unintelligent, and a follower. Jenna finished her statement by apologizing to Christy for offending her. Despite promising she would not let Jenna or Heidi win, Christy voted for Jenna to become the Sole Survivor.

Trivia

 * Christy is the first Survivor contestant to have a disability.
 * She is the only deaf contestant to play the game so far.
 * To this day, there is a rumor that Christy incorrectly voted at the Final Tribal Council and that she misunderstood the instructions that the Jury votes for a winner. Jeff Probst did query her why she voted for Jenna to win despite how she treated her and Christy's answer was "she outplayed, outwitted and outlasted" her. This seems to imply that Jenna was the intended recipient of her Jury vote.
 * Christy's luxury item was Sage.
 * On all three occasions Jenna received votes in Survivor: The Amazon, Christy was one of the votes cast for/against Jenna.
 * Christy and Heidi are the only females to be on all possible tribes in Amazon.