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At 68 and with limited mobility, his Christmas wish is to be comfortable at home

Pedro Arvelo rarely went to the hospital in his youth. He was healthy. But then something started to feel off in the early 2000s. Simple tasks like climbing the stairs at work left him feeling exhausted and weak. Then on April 25, 2006, he suffered a stroke that hindered his balance and ability to walk.

Arvelo, who spent much of his life caring for his late mother, is 68 years old. He lives alone and survives on food stamps and disability payments in The Hamlet, a Miami Gardens complex for people 62 and older. His daily workout consists of taking out his garbage — by wheelchair — to a dumpster outside. He rarely leaves home, only for doctor’s appointments once or twice a month.

Strokes are the leading cause of serious long-term disability in the United States. Every 40 seconds someone has one, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 20 to 25 percent of stroke survivors can’t walk without physical assistance, according to the National Institutes of Health.

“My stroke was pretty benign,” said Arvelo. “It didn’t affect my arms or mind. The problem lies solely on the legs; I feel constant pain in my legs.”

He spends much of his time in a broken lift recliner that he can’t afford to replace. Yet he maintains a positive attitude towards life and has learned how to live with his condition.

“Pedro is a wonderful person,” said Alex Guillen, a social worker at North Miami Foundation for Senior Citizens’ Services, an organization that delivers him a week’s worth of lunches every Wednesday and nominated him for help from Wish Book. “I speak with him pretty often. He’s always in a good mood and he’s very polite.”

Pedro Arvelo, 68, lives alone at home and spends most of his time on his lift recliner.
Pedro Arvelo, 68, lives alone at home and spends most of his time on his lift recliner.

Born in New York to Dominican parents fleeing Rafael Trujillo’s dictatorship, Arvelo played baseball in his youth, though he was never truly passionate about it. His favorite hobbies included collecting coins and stamps.

Although he had to sell most of his collections due to financial struggles in 1995, he has saved one book of stamps from his youth, which he hopes to pass on to someone as passionate about the subject as he is.

“When I die, I don’t want my collection to just be put away in boxes,” said Arvelo. “I’d like to give it to someone who is also interested in philately.”

Arvelo and his family moved back to Santo Domingo, his parents’ native city, when he was 11, shortly after Trujillo’s fall. He worked at Universidad Eugenio María de Hostos as an assistant in the medicine department and lived a relatively normal life. However, after his mother faced multiple medical scares, one of which ended with a leg being amputated, they moved from Santo Domingo to Miami in 1998 to have better access to medicine and geriatric care.

“In Santo Domingo, medicine was falling behind,” said Arvelo. “You’d call an ambulance and it’d take 50 minutes to get there.”

Although he left New York at a young age, Arvelo returned multiple times in his adult life to visit old friends. However, time and distance have strained many of those relationships.

“It’s been over 30 years since I last saw my friends,” said Arvelo. “With my condition, I can’t really travel anymore.”

After having a stroke at age 52, Arvelo relied heavily on his mother, Corina, and sister, Yvette. Corina died at 98; Yvette is facing blindness in one eye. Now, Arvelo spends most of his time alone at home.

“When living with this condition, you learn to be OK with your own company,” said Arvelo.

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How to help: Wish Book is trying to help this family and hundreds of others in need this year. To donate, pay securely at MiamiHerald.com/wishbook.

When not using a wheelchair or walker to move around the house, Arvelo rests in his late aunt’s recliner, which he has had for 16 years. However, time has taken its toll, and the recliner is broken.

“You can’t tell at first sight, but when I sit down, it hurts my hip,” said Arvelo. “I always watch TV from that couch because sitting on my wheelchair for too long hurts my back.”

Arvelo’s Wish Book wish is a new fabric lift recliner, similar to the one he currently owns. Since he receives $841 monthly in disability benefits and his rent is $812, he doesn’t have the money to buy a new one himself.

“I live off my disability check, but that’s only enough for rent and gas bills,” said Arvelo. “I can’t afford to buy one myself.”

While he doesn’t see them as often as he’d like, Arvelo maintains a close relationship with his family, especially his older sister and niece. However, due to his limited mobility, he can’t visit them and instead has to wait for them to come to him.

“I haven’t been to my sister’s house in over three years,” said Arvelo. “There’s a step at the front door that I can’t get past using a wheelchair or walker.”

Nevertheless, he’s adjusted to his disability.

“A stroke isn’t a disease, it’s a condition,” said Arvelo. “It’s the way that I am.”

How to help

To help this Wish Book nominee and the more than 100 other nominees who are in need this year:

▪ To donate, use the coupon found in the newspaper or pay securely online through www.MiamiHerald.com/wishbook

▪ For more information, call 305-376-2906 or emailWishbook@MiamiHerald.com

▪ The most requested items are often laptops and tablets for school, furniture, and accessible vans

▪ Read all Wish Book stories on www.MiamiHerald.com/wishbook

This story was written for Florida International University’s South Florida Media Network.