Fit to Roll
Following a 'feeling sorry for myself period,' Peter Arballo returned to physical activity and hasn't looked back
By Nathan R. Huff
Losing one's fingers isn't an appealing thought to anyone. But for someone whose hands act as his legs--"legs" that have won national and international medals--severing digits becomes that much more disastrous.
So, when paraplegic YMCA fitness instructor, Peter Arballo, looked down at the puddle of blood below the radial saw at his Santa Cruz Mountain home, he knew time was of the essence. With no one else at home, Arballo had no choice but to navigate his wheelchair down the steep driveway toward the main road.
Once there, he flagged down help. The fire department was first to the scene, and while Arballo sat bleeding, his hand still hidden behind remnants of a work glove, a firefighter assessed the situation.
"So," says Arballo, who only brought up the 1989 story to explain why he didn't use all the finger holes while bowling, "he touched my thumb and said, 'your thumb's there, your first finger's there, your middle finger's there, uh-oh, I don't feel your ring finger.'"
Arballo continues. "So, I asked him if he could go up there and see if he could find my finger." The firefighter did, and 13 operations later, Arballo's fingers, which were between 85 to 100 percent severed, are completely functional, if not quite as good as new.
Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Peter Arballo leads a strengthening class at the Southwest YMCA.
With the bowling grip issue explained, Arballo, not one to dwell on the past, enthusiastically launches into his description of the "Wheelercise" class he teaches at the Southwest YMCA. The class, part of the Y's "Physability" program, is just one of the many activities Arballo has his fingers in.
Arballo said he first became interested in chair-exercise after experiencing rotator cuff surgery on his shoulder, a common operation for people in wheelchairs. "I'd been looking for someone who'd be interested in allowing me to do classes."
Enter Saratogan Dalia Nir, coordinator of the physability program. Nir's program, which began in February 1998, is an inclusive exercise and recreational program for people with and without disabilities and chronic medical conditions. The program offers aquatic exercise classes, one-on-one assistance, swim lessons, day camps and social events, as well as Arballo's bowling, basketball, and chair/wheelchair strength training and aerobics classes.
"Peter is a great example," Nir says. "He shows you can be active out in the community, even if you have a disability."
Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Although he teaches disabled people to play basketball in a wheelchair, Peter Arballo shows able-bodied participants how to play in a wheelchair to give them a perspective of what it's like to be in a wheelchair.
Like many pro and college coaches, Arballo's zest for teaching grew out of a remarkable athletic career of his own--a career which continues today.
However, there was a time when being active was the last thing on Peter Arballo's mind. In 1959, the San Jose native was finishing up his last day of service in the U.S. Air Force. The 21-year-old high school sports star already had a standing invitation to try out for the Philadelphia Phillies professional baseball team.
Driving an Air Force truck, Arballo dozed off. The truck crashed, and he awoke to discover he was paralyzed from the waist down. Arballo was devastated. He says he went through a seven-to eight-year "feeling-sorry-for-myself period," when he drank heavily and stopped taking care of himself.
"I weighed 210 pounds," says Arballo, whose upper-body is now a mass of sculpted muscle.
Then one day, Arballo read a story about a Santa Cruz paraplegic who had recently returned from the Para-Olympic games. It motivated him to reenter the competitive realm. He started by training with other disabled vets, which led to second- and third-place finishes in the national qualifying competitions.
Arballo turned his eyes to the 1968 Para-Oympics in Tel Aviv, Israel. After coming up just short at the qualifying competition, he was told he would still be allowed to compete if he could raise the money to get there. With the help of his friends, Arballo traveled to the Holy Land, and won a gold medal in archery and bronze in discus. Standing on the award platform, with the "Star Spangled Banner" playing in the background, Arballo said his life was turned around.
"As I was receiving my medal, everything flashed through my mind--why did I wait so long? Why did I have to go through this feeling-sorry stage? I'd wasted eight years of my life," Arballo said. "I made a vow to God, at that point, saying if he gives me the strength and the courage, I will go and find anybody who has a disability, and get them involved in wheelchair sports."
Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
In addition to fitness classes, Peter Arballo teaches a YMCA children's bowling class.
And so he did. While continuing to compete on his own, Arballo went on to win medals in the Pan America games, and to compete in the 1972 Para-Olympics. He also began teaching. Working with Paralyzed Veterans of America, Arballo taught people in wheelchairs to play basketball and eventually started coaching the "Golden Spokes." In 1974, playing for the Baltimore Ravens, he took his team to the national championships, where they placed third, winning All-Tournament and All-Section honors for himself.
Today, Arballo is busy creating a basketball and bowling program, among other things, through the Southwest YMCA. Participants attend his strength training "Wheelercise" program twice a week, and then play basketball on Sundays at St. Mary's Church in Los Gatos.
Susan Brueggeman and her canine companion, Quimby, have been attending chair exercise classes at the Y since July. Brueggeman normally works with Nir, but on March 10, she attended Arballo and Nir's team-taught class. "Other instructors don't know how to deal with people who can't see," Brueggeman says, explaining that instructing the blind takes more patience. "But I've felt a lot stronger in my shoulders and back--in all my muscles."
Out on the cement in the Y's courtyard, Arballo zips across the pavement, dribbling with one hand, crossing over, spinning his wheelchair, and then flipping a lay-up off the backboard and through the net.
Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Through the YMCA, Peter Arballo teaches disabled and able-bodied people how to bowl.
In two weeks Arballo will be on a plane to Vietnam to donate equipment and coordinate a wheelchair sports program. His trip is sponsored by Hope Haven International and Wheels for Humanity, two organizations dedicated to helping amputees and paralyzed people all over the world. Peter says the trip will be featured on the Today Show--a first for him and his nonprofit company, Wheelchair Sports International.
This will not be Arballo's first trip abroad. Traveling with various faith-based humanitarian and educational groups, Arballo has covered nearly every continent, from Africa to South America. Now president of his own company, Arballo shows no signs of slowing down.
"Exercise won't necessarily turn your life around, but it will make you feel like you're worth something," Arballo says. "After all, the main purpose is to feel good about yourself."
To learn more about donating wheelchairs or offering financial support to Wheelchair Sports International, call Peter Arballo, 408.286.8669. For more information about Dahlia Nir's physability program at the Southwest YMCA, call 408.370.1877. The YMCA is at 13500 Quito Road in Saratoga.
Los Gatos, California Since 1881
