When Matt Pirrello returned to Kettering with dozens of Archbishop Alter High School alumni two weekends ago, he was striving toward normalcy — a goal he has been targeting for more than a year.
Pirrello, a sophomore studying economics, had completed his first year in the Air Force ROTC program at Ohio University and was attending jump school in Colorado Springs, Colo., last summer.
Pirrello was looking to complete the program and work toward becoming a combat-rescue officer. What happened June 25, 2010, was not part of that plan.
“I made my first jump at 10 a.m., and everything went great,” Pirrello said. “I got a perfect score on my jump and landed 10 feet from the landing X.”
After a 45-minute delay due to high winds, he was ready to make his second jump.
“I remember jumping out. My free fall was good, and the last thing I remember was pulling open my parachute,” he said. “I don’t remember seeing anything when I was coming in to land, but I remember hitting something.”
According to the accident investigation report, Pirrello got caught in a wind shift 100 feet in the air, quickly pulling him off his desired course.
“I kind of equate it to a bucket of water, and you swing it around your arm, and the water stays in the bucket,” Pirrello said. “The centrifugal force underneath the parachute, all that force, I was kind of on the end of the bucket.”
The wind propelled him toward a windsock, severing his right leg above the knee. He also broke his left leg upon impact.
Pirrello’s parents, Frank and Karen, were on a motorcycle trip through the mountains of Colorado that day when Pirrello’s superior, Lt. Col. Alejandro Cantu, called.
“Col. Cantu told me that there had been an accident and that Matt had been care-flighted to the hospital in Colorado Springs and that he had lost one leg and they didn’t know if they could save the other,” his mother said.
While trying to stay calm, she went into a nearby store and wrote down the jump school’s contact information. She was still on the phone with Cantu when they got back on the motorcycle.
A police officer from Buena Vista, Colo., drove the parents the 150 miles between them and their son.
“We were so happy he was alive; that was first and foremost,” Karen Pirrello said. “He didn’t even look like himself. … Everything was just different.”
The Colorado Springs community eased the family’s stay while their son was hospitalized, supplying necessities such as toothpaste and soap while the couple stayed on the Air Force base. One man even loaned the Pirrellos his car without ever meeting the family.
After Matt Pirrello was released, he spent a year of rehabilitation at the Center for the Intrepid in San Antonio, Texas.
Pirrello originally thought activities like walking would quickly come back to him. Once he saw how the prosthetic worked and how it was attached, he realized the task was not so simple.
“It’s been difficult at the start, but once you get the hang of it and get some confidence on it, I can get around on a daily basis without difficulty,” Pirrello said.
Being at the Center gave Pirrello the chance to take advantage of the top-tier care it offers.
After completing the necessary rehab and acclimating himself to his prosthesis, Pirrello, a three-sport athlete in high school, is almost as active as he was before.
“Being able to get back out there, you don’t realize how much you are working and how many different muscle groups you are using,” Pirrello said. “It has really helped me with my therapy a lot more than you would expect.”
In May, he returned to Colorado Springs to compete in the Warrior Games, an athletic competition for wounded military personnel. He swam in three events, winning gold in the 100-meter freestyle, silver in the 50-meter freestyle and bronze in a 200-meter relay.
“It was really fun to see him compete again,” Pirrello’s mother said. “He just beat the competition in the 100-meter freestyle, and he pops out of the water and he has this smile on his face. It’s that ‘I just beat you’ grin. To see that grin again, it was great.”
Pirrello intends to continue his military career but has to request an exception to policy and convince his superior officers that he can still be part of the Air Force.
“There have been pilots that have flown with prosthetics, but they’ve already been in the Air Force,” he said. “My situation, since I was ROTC, I’m in that gray area. If you are in, it’s a matter of retention. If you are not in, it’s a matter of acceptance.”
Pirrello, who will learn his fate in the spring, continually reminds the Air Force of his situation. If the military rules in his favor, he will be allowed to continue in the ROTC program.
Pirrello’s father said the situation has made his son stronger and allowed him to exhibit the qualities of an Air Force pilot.
“His courage, his determination and his leadership were not in his right leg,” Frank Pirrello said.
nr225008@ohiou.edu
