AMPUTEE GOLFER WILL COMPETE IN TOURNAMENT; GLENDALE HOSPITAL TO BENEFIT FROM FAIRWAYS CLASSIC EVENT.

Byline: Donna Huffaker Staff Writer

It's been 26 years since Louie Vivas lost the lower portion of his right leg in a motorcycle accident.

And since that day, when a truck turned right on red without stopping, the Redondo Beach resident has been identified as an amputee - a word it took him 11 years to embrace.

He still thinks about his handicap, especially when he straps on a snowboard, mounts a horse, peddles through a bicycle race or tees off at a golf course, as he'll do Monday when he plays in the 16th annual Fairways Golf Classic at Oakmont Country Club.

``I think more disabled people need to expose themselves in activities and events so people know you can live a normal life as an amputee,'' 50-year-old Vivas said.

Vivas' employer, Active Life Orthotics and Prosthetics, is sponsoring Vivas and two other amputees for Monday's golf tournament, hosted by Glendale Adventist Medical Center.

Proceeds from the event will fund a new computerized CT scanner that will render images up to 75 percent faster than is now available at the hospital, said spokeswoman Alicia Gonzalez.

Emergency room and critical care patients will especially benefit from the equipment, she said.

So, not only is the tournament a good cause, but it will allow Deane Doty to play alongside an employee and two clients for whom he has made prosthetics, Doty said.

The Glendale resident started his prosthetics business on Chevy Chase Drive two years ago, he said. Although he is not an amputee nor are any members of his family, Doty said prosthetics always seemed a good career path.

He will sponsor Vivas and two other amputees who will participate Monday because to help the cause and because it is ``a new venue to socialize and be active'' with the three disabled athletes.

Open and forthright about being a below-the-knee amputee, Vivas said it took him a long time to get that way. He endured a bumpy road of drugs and alcohol before accepting his condition and making his life work.

``I met the guy who used to make my legs, he gave me information on a (prosthetic limb). I started meeting people. I started running and then I qualified for the Para-Olympic Games,'' he said. He's been working as a prosthetist and technician at Active Life for six months.

``I went through a lot of torment - it's not an easy life. But you've got to get out there and do something or your mind will really work on you,'' he said.

Registration for Monday's golf tournament, at 3100 Country Club Drive, begins at 9 a.m. Shotgun start is at 11 a.m. Throughout the Classic there will be putting competitions and contests for a hole-in-one, the straightest and the longest drive.

For information, call [phone].

CAPTION(S):

Box: The facts