CEBU CITY, Philippines – When Arnold Balais lost his right leg at the age of 15, he learned to enjoy and value life even more.
Now, the Cebuano has achieved a new record: he is the first amputee to successfully climb Mt. Apo, the country’s highest mountain.
Inspired by a story published in The STAR three years ago about senior citizens successfully climbing Mt. Apo, Balais had been thinking about trying it himself.
“When I read The STAR article about senior citizens climbing Mt. Apo, I said, that’s okay!†Balais said in Filipino.
Balais then tried and succeeded in trekking Mt. Manunggal and never stopped thinking of Mt. Apo.
Last Monday, he started climbing the large solfataric, potentially active stratovolcano with an altitude of 2,954 meters (9,692 feet) at 3 p.m. and summited last Wednesday at 10:40 a.m.
He was accompanied by physical therapists Lariza Mae Fernando and Renato Miguel Jr., both PT instructors at Velez College; his guide Amboy; and assistant Weng.
“Day 1, we reached Mati Ao, which is the first base camp. It was two and a half hours of walking, passing through six rivers. It is a rough trail, slippery, rocky and uphill. We spent the night in Mati Ao. The weather was great and so was the view,†Balais shared.
The group continued their journey at 5 a.m. the following day and reached the third base camp at 1:30 p.m. They decided to stay the night to regain energy for the summit the following day.
“The weather is not what we expected it to be, it was raining and slippery and it makes our climb more difficult... I couldn’t use my crutches…I had to crawl, jump. But it is worth it. The view is beautiful and you can see the awesome mountain,†he said.
“(We) reached the summit at exactly 10:40 a.m…The view is magical and at last I conquered Mt. Apo,†he added.
But after reaching the peak, their adventure was far from over because going down proved to be more dangerous due to rain.