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`Loss of leg doesn't keep Lino Lakes man on the sidelines
`David La Vaque, Star Tribune
`September 14, 2005 NINLINE0914
`Chris Bretoi hopes to get through Saturday's
`North Shore In-line Marathon in Duluth with lots
`of speed and only a little pain -- tough tasks to
`accomplish on a prosthetic leg.
`Bretoi, of Lino Lakes, lost his left leg below the
`knee in a 1989 traffic accident but since then has
`participated in a variety of sports. He first tried
`the North Shore In-line Marathon in 2002 and
`remains the only lower-limb amputee to skate at
`the event.
`"I like to do things like this to be an example and
`because I like to be active," he said.
`Bretoi, 50, has been involved with sports nearly
`all his life. He played football, hockey, lacrosse,
`soccer and tennis in high school, then hockey and
`lacrosse at Brown University. On Feb. 6, 1989, the night of the accident, he was heading to the
`Northwest Athletic Club in Brooklyn Center to play racquetball.
`He pulled over on Interstate Hwy. 694 where the Central Avenue on-ramp merges with the
`freeway to change a flat tire. A car going about 50 miles per hour hit him from behind, severing
`the leg.
`"I was lucky," he said. "Everyone I've met who's been hit like that lost both legs."
`About a week later, he was on a tennis court, hitting balls from his wheelchair. With the help of a
`prosthetic leg, he began playing stand-up tennis in 1996. But he wasn't finished. His children,
`Travis and Jasmin, played bandy, and he wanted to join them on the ice. That led to a desire to
`play hockey again.
`
`Chris Bretoi skated on the Gateway Trail in Oakdale
`With a partial prosthetic, he has played tennis and hockey
`and finished the North Shore In-LIne Marathon
`the past three years.
`
`He began ice skating in 2001 and plays one night a week in Shoreview. He described his first
`couple of times on the ice as embarrassing but said in-line skating came much easier because you
`go one direction on a non-slippery surface.
`He starts training for the in-line marathon season around Memorial Day, going 15 miles roundtrip
`on a trail from the Hugo Town Hall to Forest Lake. In the weeks leading up to a marathon, he adds
`a 20-mile trip on the Gateway Trail from Oakdale to Stillwater.
`A three-year veteran of the North Shore Marathon, Bretoi has lowered his times each year. His
`mark of 1 hour, 46 minutes and 51 seconds last season was nearly an hour better than his first
`year, when all he wanted to do was finish. Accomplishing that goal led to two weeks on crutches
`because of blisters on his stump.
`"The higher my activity level, the more likely there will be periods of working through pain," he
`said.
`Technology has eased his pain. He's been wearing a prosthesis called the Harmony P2 for about
`1½ years. The device, made by Otto Bock Health Care of Plymouth, uses a vacuum system to
`reduce the likelihood of blisters or other abrasions.
`Finishing the North Shore marathon in less than 2 hours for a second straight year is his goal, but
`by just showing up to race he's earning praise.
`"I get a lot of encouragement," he said. "One lady, who was a teacher, said she was going to tell
`her students about me whenever they talk about not being able to do something."
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`Otto Bock Exhibit 2011 Page 1
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