Man & his machine

Certain social scientists and environmental nuts may look at automobiles as the scourge of modern civilization; nothing more than fossil fuel-burning, planet-polluting contraptions that isolate individuals from society and create soulless cities that are forever gridlocked. But it can’t be argued that automobiles are vehicles, thus providing mobility and allowing one the freedom to blaze trails and explore new horizons – or shopping malls.

For some, like Arthur Ascuna, a vehicle literally serves as his legs.

The 32-year-old former motocross rider returned to the tracks last Saturday to compete in the Shell Helix Suzuki 4x4 Challenge at the Payanig sa Pasig grounds in Pasig City.

Ascuna easily took on the two challenging moonscape tracks characterized by steep climbs and seven-foot-deep ditches and littered with boulders while on board a modified Toyota Mini Cruiser. The vehicle, owned by his long-time riding and hunting buddy Ernie Leongson, can be controlled completely by hand. It doesn’t have accelerator and brake pedals, and is instead fitted with controls similar to a motorcycle’s.

Those modifications are necessary. You see, Ascuna is paralyzed from the waist down.

Ascuna started in motocross at 15, and was living a fast-paced life until that fateful afternoon of Nov. 8, 1999 when he suddenly passed out while riding his motorcycle, only a few moments after leaving his house in Quezon City.

"It must have been fatigue," he recalled. "When I woke up, I couldn’t feel a thing in my legs. I couldn’t feel anything from my waist down." Ascuna did not have any major wounds from the accident, but he injured his spine so badly that his doctor soon told him the hard truth: He would need a miracle to be able to walk again.

From riding a fast and furious bike, his permanent vehicle would be a small, flimsy wheelchair. He couldn’t accept it. He knew there was more to life than being disabled. But it took Ascuna years before he regained his self-esteem. Thanks to his parents, his four siblings and former motocross buddies/competitors like Leongson and Jolet Jao, he was soon back to his jolly old self, pushing his wheelchair around trying to live as much a normal life as anybody with working legs. "I chose a manual wheelchair. I needed the exercise. I knew I had to keep my body fit if I were to compete again," he said.

Then last year, Ascuna tried his hand on a quadbike or an all-terrain vehicle. He enjoyed it at first, but since he couldn’t legally use it on the road, he opted to find a way to drive a "standard" car.

With Leongson’s help, he modified his 1994 Toyota Landcruiser VX, changing its controls so he could operate it without the need for a pedal. Initially, he saw a contraption on the Internet for paraplegic drivers. It uses a cable for the accelerator, and a lever for the brakes. You pull the cable to go forward, and push the lever to slow down or stop.

Not used to pulling and pushing, Ascuna thought of the throttle handle on his bike. So he asked Leongson and a mechanic friend to convert the Land Cruiser’s accelerator pedal to a throttle handle, attaching it to a lever that he pushes to engage the brakes. It worked, and soon. Ascuna was driving the vehicle around, even going to malls. He had the Land Cruiser’s ride height lowered so he could go in and out with relative ease.

"When I go to the mall, I ask the guard to help me with the wheelchair after I park the vehicle. Then I go around and do the same thing when I get back. It was hard at first but I got used to it over time," he explained.

Driving off-road, though, is an entirely different matter. Ascuna’s first attempts at Leongson’s Mini Cruiser resulted in crashes. He couldn’t keep the vehicle from tipping over, since his hips, the portion of the body that senses balance, no longer feels anything. "I balance with my eyes now," he said. "It’s more like driving on a computer game."

At the competition last Saturday, all eyes were fixed on Ascuna as he was lifted by two men to his vehicle. When finally he was flagged off, he zoomed through the muddy and rocky track. He cornered fast, climbed steadily, and avoided all obstacles save for a huge rock that he decided to run over. When the Mini Cruiser dropped through the seven-foot-deep ditch, he managed to steer it to the surface without help from the recovery guys. He only lost time circling the man-made mound with a Chevy pickup truck on top. Apparently, it was hard for him to correct the vehicle’s direction using only his left hand.

At day’s end, Ascuna finished both tracks, registering faster times than many able-bodied competitors. However, others, such as Suzuki Club of the Philippines president Larry Alberto, were simply more experienced, hence finishing the course registering faster times. Alberto ruled both the Open and All-Suzuki categories and was declared driver of the year.

But the more important fact wasn’t that Ascuna successfully hurdled the track’s many obstacles. Or even that merely being able to compete was achievement enough. True, these have their own merits. But more than anything, it’s that Ascuna was victorious in tackling life’s numerous tests. And that a vehicle played a major role in this – both in bad times and in triumph.