Florida man finds new life through pickleball and a gift from Nashville

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — A Florida man came to Nashville to receive a gift from a local company that will transform his life.

Pickleball, a sport played with a paddle and whiffle-like type ball, completely changed Petey Bruce’s life.

Petey moved to Florida with no home and no friends, but it wasn’t until he met a very special pickleball community that helped him get back on his feet.

Petey didn’t have a normal childhood growing up in the Philippines, where he faced adversity in his orphanage as a young boy.

“The nuns at the orphanage taught me how to feed myself and taught me how to clothe myself and then I learned how to do it all on my own,” Petey explained.

He was adopted at age five and then he moved to the States when he was 20 years old, still struggling to find his purpose in life.

“I just felt like God was calling me to Florida,” Petey said.

One year ago, Petey moved to Orlando with essentially nothing.

“All of the stuff I had was inside my van cause that’s basically what I had to do, is to just start over,” Petey emphasized.

He had no job, no home, until his friend invited him to play pickleball last January.

“I got hooked from the first day until now,” Petey emphasized.

Petey explains his pickleball community helped him get back on his feet because they paid for a temporary hotel room and got him a job at Publix.

Then Petey traveled to Nashville to get a new and free prosthetic leg from Amputee Blade runners and Petey emphasizes this is a huge blessing.

“For the last I want to say 8 years, I’ve been in some form of pain and discomfort,” Petey said.

After receiving his new prosthetic leg, he is out on the court and can move, run, and wear shoes that fit him for the first time in his life.

Joshua Southards, executive director of Amputee Blade Runners, says these are the moments he lives for.

“Just the joy in living vicariously through someone else and seeing that quick change of here’s something I can’t do that I used to be able to do, maybe something I’ve never been able to do and now they can,” Southards explained.

Prayers that were answered for Petey Bruce from his pickleball community back in Orlando and a Nashville organization that wanted to help this special young man.

“What I asked for was I need help to get me back on my feet and sure enough, my community said well we will give you what you need so that you can get back on your feet,” Petey emphasized.

Petey hopes to help other people get back on their feet too.

Petey says he’s happy to be pain free and now he plans on playing in a lot more competitive pickleball tournaments.

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