First amputee to scale Mt. Apo is a Cebuano

CEBU, Philippines - When he lost his right leg at the age of 15, he learned to enjoy and value life even more.

Now, Cebuano Arnold Balais established another record— the first amputee to successfully climb the country’s highest mountain, Mt.Apo.

Inspired by a story featured at Philippine Star three years ago about senior citizens succeeding in their climb to Mt.Apo, Balais had since been thinking about trying it himself.

“Nung nabasa ko yun sa Phil.Star na may senior citizens na nakaakyat ng Mt.Apo, sabi ko, okay yun ah!,” said Balais to The FREEMAN.

Balais then tried and succeeded trekking in Mt. Manunggal and never stopped thinking of going to Mt. Apo.

At 3 pm last Monday, Balais started climbing the potentially active volcano in Mindanao which has an altitude of 2,954 meters or 9,692 feet  and reached the summit last Wednesday, May 29, at10:40 am.

“Day 1, we reached Mati Ao which is the first base cape. It was a 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,” recalls Balais.

Balais was accompanied by physical therapists Lariza Mae Fernando and Renato “Don” Miguel Jr. who are working as PT instructors at Velez College. A guide, Amboy, and an assistant named Weng continued their journey at 5 a.m. the following day and reached the third base camp at 1:30 pm and decided to stay for another 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 made our climb more difficult. We had to climb five mountains, a makeshift ladder that I can’t use my crutches. Kailangang gumapang, tumalon. But it is worth it. The view is beautiful and you can see the awesome picturesque mountain. Reached the summit at exactly 10:40 a.m..The view is magical and at last I conquered Mt. Apo,”added Balais.

The adventure, though, was not yet over after reaching the peak, as going came to be more dangerous, due to the downpour of rain.

“Target talaga dapat namin to reach was peak was 12 noon, pero dahil maganda pa yung weather, naka-summit na kami ng 10:40 am. Kaso, nung pababa na kami, umuulan na, nakakatakot. Nakababa kami ng 6 pm kung saan nakuha ko from the tourism office of Kidapawan yung certificate ko as the first amputee to climb Mt.Apo!”

Balais who is residing in Lapu-Lapu City and works at Orthopaedie Frey Far East Incorporated in Cebu City returned to Cebu yesterday noon just in time for his second daughter’s first birthday.

“Isa talaga yun sa bucket list ko.Yung susunod, secret muna sa ngayon. What’s important right now is na-prove ko na kahit yung persons with disabilities pwede. Na walang hindi kayang gawin.”

Balais, 39, grew up a normal kid and wanted to be like his idol in the Philippine Basketball Association, Samboy Lim, until a freak accident during a barangay cage league in Olongapo when he was 15 years old. With the broken bone in his right thigh already infected, the doctors had no choice but to cut his leg.

Balais became skinny and got inspired to do weightlifting and ventured into bodybuilding. In 1996, he represented RP in a Paralympics competition in the US where he finished 12th among 24 international athletes.

In 1999, Balais tried his luck in Cebu where he joined the Philspada National Games and won golds in swimming. His performance got him an invitation to the RP team, became a mainstay and had represented and brought home honors in competition he had in US, Australia, Malaysia, Korea, Vietnam and Thailand, not to mention the national records for amputees in swimming.

Balais is also the first amputee to cross the Hilutungan channel some years ago and now becomes a Skywalker himself like his idol, not for its high leaping ability on the court, but having conquered the country’s highest mountain./JPM (FREEMAN)