South Bend, Ind. – Pete Duranko doesn’t dwell on his impending death.
The former Broncos and Notre Dame standout is too busy making the most of his time left to have his spirit weakened by the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis – better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease – that is slowly sapping the strength from his once-athletic body.
“I know the diagnosis,” he said. “But in the meantime, I get to enjoy life. The friendships and the camaraderie make it worth living.”
It gets harder and harder to do, though. The former team prankster who used to impress teammates by doing back flips in full uniform and walking on his hands at practice can no longer lift his arms to feed himself. The former defensive lineman who used to fight off double teams when he played for the Broncos now needs to sit and rest after walking 20 yards.
“My legs are getting weaker and my lung capacity is real low,” he said.
There’s no sense of pity, though. No sign of despair. His enthusiastic, friendly personality has no limitations – even after being left with a raspy whisper of a voice after his vocal cord was damaged during surgery for an aortic aneurysm.
Duranko, 62, who lives in Johnstown, Pa., said whenever he begins to feel sorry for himself he thinks about the young children he used to visit in hospitals who had fatal diseases, or the three grandchildren of his former Notre Dame coach, Ara Parseghian, who died of a rare genetic disorder.
“When I found out I had ALS, I reflected on my life, how lucky I had been, all the people I met, being on a national championship team, playing in Denver,” he said. “Who am I to feel sorry?”
Duranko and some other members of the 1966 Irish championship team were on campus Saturday for the annual Blue-Gold spring game, with Duranko serving as an honorary captain.
