Avelino Rochino doesn’t remember going 30 feet through the air after his motorcycle was T-boned by a landscaping truck in Cumru Township back in May 2019.
He only remembers waking up in the intensive care unit at Reading Hospital, glad to still be alive. And he remembers having a conversation with his doctor about his leg, which at the time was mangled and held together with dozens of pins.
“He gave me a choice,” Rochino said. “I could try to keep it and likely have pain in it for the rest of my life. Or, I could have it amputated.”
Rochino, who through his work was familiar with how advanced prosthetics have become, knew almost immediately what choice to make.
“In about five minutes I said, ‘Amputation,’” he said.
Rochino said he had always been pretty active — he enjoyed swimming and tennis in particular — and was confident he would find a way to remain so.
“I was pretty optimistic and stoic,” he said. “My biggest concern wasn’t that I couldn’t, it was that I just wanted to fast-forward and skip all the hard work.”
Of course, that wasn’t an option. Rochino did put in the hard work — first at Reading Hospital and then at Reading Hospital Rehabilitation at Wyomissing — to get his life back.
And today, the Wyomissing Hills 59-year-old, who has undergone 20 surgeries following his motorcycle accident, is just as active has he’s ever been.
“I’m actually in the best shape of my life,” Rochino said.
Rochino said he wants others who have gone through amputations or deal with other disabilities to know they can do the same. That’s why, even though he’s not a golfer, he headed out to Sittler Golf in South Heidelberg Township on Tuesday to take a few whacks at some golf balls.
He was one of about 25 former and current patients of Reading Hospital Rehabilitation at Wyomissing who took part in the 12th annual First Swing/Learn to Golf Clinic.
Learning what they can do
The clinic is held through a partnership between the rehabilitation hospital and the Eastern Amputee Golf Association.
“We’re trying to get people in the communities with various disabilities to come out and see that they can be active and do more activities then they think they can,” said Joe Zona, a physical therapist with the rehabilitation hospital and an organizer of the event.
Zona said the clinic is a great way to get people out of a hospital and into the real world to try things.
“It’s really important that people see what they can actually do,” he said.
Adam Benza, an adaptive golf instructor who works with the golf association, agreed.
“What we try to do is really get people out and get people moving,” he said. “The worst part of limb loss or a disability is you feel like your life is over, like you can’t do anything anymore. We want to show people they can still go out and do things.”
Benza knows a little something about that. When he was 9 he lost his right leg due to Ewing sarcoma, a cancer that occurs primarily in the bone or soft tissue. Fueled by the ignorance of youth and a love for sports, he didn’t let it slow him down.
“As soon as the doctor said it was OK, I was out running around playing basketball and soccer and football,” he said.
Benza said golf is a great entry point in a return to an active life. It helps develop balance, strength and stamina.
“And you can come out to the range and hit five balls or 200 balls,” he said. “Whatever you feel up to.”
Benza said he loves coming to events like the clinic, watching people create friendships and enjoy community. And, at the same time, being active.
“Seeing these people laugh and make fun of each other, it’s great,” he said. “You’re not seeing them in a hospital bed. We need to make sure that people don’t just sit at home, sit in a hospital, being ‘woe is me.’
“They can get out and do something.”
Overcoming doubts
Getting out and doing something is something Beth Kase wasn’t sure she’d be able to do anymore 10 years ago.
That’s when an aggressive case of strep throat — or, more precisely, the lifesaving treatment for it — took away her hands, right foot and left leg. As she was leaving the rehabilitation hospital, she met a young woman who was also a quadruple amputee.
The woman didn’t let her amputations keep her from being active and independent, which was a message Kase needed to hear.
“She showed me that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.” Kase said.
Once an avid hiker, Kase has developed other interests to keep her busy. She lifts weights, does CrossFit and races on a recumbent bicycle.
Many of the activities she has adopted she discovered through events similar to Tuesday’s clinic.
“You don’t turn stuff down when someone is offering to teach you something new,” she said of her mindset.
On Tuesday, Kase hit a few golf balls with the help of a Velcro and canvas strap that allows her to hold golf clubs. Although that’s what it’s designed for, she admitted she uses it more often to go fishing.
Kase said she’s not really into golfing but attended the clinic to support others in the amputee or disability community.
“Coming here, this is my community here, these are my friends,” she said. “It’s important to have this so that you know you’re not alone. You may have had the worst thing happen to you in your life, but you’re not alone in it.”
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