Different perspective

Ronald Brunelle makes shooting pool from a wheelchair look easy.

But the 59-year-old promises that it is not.

“I was totally frustrated,” he said remembering his first time trying to play a game from a wheelchair.  

Brunelle became paralyzed from about the waist down after a two-tonne safe dropped on him while working for a furniture company. He was 38-years-old at the time of the accident and said his life changed instantly.

Brunelle began playing pool when he was 14, and always thought of himself as an above average player.

Trying to play the game from a wheelchair for the first time 20 years ago, however, didn’t make him feel so above average.

“I spent a little more time than the average person shooting pool in pool halls,” he said. “So the first time I tried shooting from the wheelchair I was totally, totally frustrated. But my friends insisted that I keep trying, and I kept on coming out and … eventually I became as good as I was before.

“I think it’s a matter of persistence. Just by hanging in there you can become quite comfortable with it and quiet good at it.”

Brunelle was one of more than 16 people participating in the sixth annual Wheelchair Pool Tournament in support of PUSH Northwest Saturday afternoon. The tournament took place at two locations on the city’s north side – Shooter’s tavern on Memorial Avenue and the Port Arthur Ukrainian Prosvita.

While some participants were experienced at playing pool from a wheelchair, many were taking their first shots from the seated position.

“It’s going to be very funny to see some of these ace players shoot from a wheel chair,” he said before the tournament began.  “They’re probably going to be missing a few shots.”

He added that he believed the people trying the game from the wheelchair for the first time were showing more than just support for the event, but courage too.

The tournament is a PUSH Northwest fundraiser, but it is also organized in an effort to create awareness, said PUSH Northwest communications co-ordinator and event co-ogranizer Sarah Hampel.

“It’s just such a challenge,” she said. “You don’t realize how much you actually use your legs (while playing pool) until you’re actually sitting in a chair and playing the game. It just promotes awareness about what it’s like to be in a wheelchair.”

Hampel said she often hears inexperienced players complain after the tournament about how hard the game is on their arms, and how much more difficult it was than they expected.

The tournament usually raises about $600 for PUSH Northwest programs.

The sixth annual event concludes Saturday evening with an after party scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. at Shooter’s.