MIT’s Sloan School of Management recently published a press release on its blog to salute upcoming Executive MBA graduate Joe Bellantoni, who will receive his degree nearly nine years to the day he went blind in the aftermath of a car accident that nearly killed him.
Bellantoni came of age in post-Springsteen, pre-Bon Jovi 80’s Jersey burbs. He had natural business acumen, quickly moving up the ladder at the Crystal Springs Golf Resort to become chief financial officer. During this time, Bellantoni and his high school sweetheart Denise built a life for themselves in New Jersey with their two sons, Michael and Matthew.
In July 2007, Bellantoni was cruising at 60 MPH on the New Jersey Turnpike when he “passed out behind the wheel of his Jeep.” According to the article, he later discovered much to his surprise that it was his first diabetic coma. Bellantoni lost control of the car and “slid under a lumber truck in front of him, then popped back out,” which sheared off the top of his Jeep, nearly decapitating him in the process.
According to the article, “he broke his neck and all of his ribs on his left side, crushed his face, bit off his tongue, punctured his lung, and severed his arm and pinky finger.” To the surprise of physicians, Bellantoni staged a full recovery with the exception of his sight—the loss of which baffled his doctors—and was miraculously back to work within 2 months of the accident.
With Denise’s assistance, acting “as his eyes,” Bellantoni figured out how to conduct business as usual, traveling, completing reverse acquisitions, and handling multiple debt and equity transactions.
Roughly two years later, a bored and diabetes-free Bellantoni decided to run the 2009 New York City marathon, for which he trained “in less than nine weeks” with the help of Achilles International, which “provides volunteer runners to help people with disabilities navigate road races and other athletic events.”
According to the article, “Bellantoni has run 25 marathons, including three ultramarathons, eight triathlons, and competed in one Ironman triathlon.” Bellantoni ran the Boston marathon in 2014 beside an MIT Sloan student, who inspired him to apply to the 20-month, executive MBA degree program, which is tailor-made for prospective students with “significant work experience.”
Bellantoni remarked of his experience at Sloan: “It was hard. It was a psychological challenge going back to school, and then going back to school not seeing. Everybody has been very supportive. I’ve worked with some great teams, and it’s been a good experience.”
After spending two decades as CFO for Crystal Springs Golf Resort, Bellantoni is now VP of strategic planning and corporate development. He plans to put his EMBA degree to use in the new role with “more special projects and consulting.”
Vladimir Konopelko, EMBA ’16, who lived with Bellantoni and Denise during the winter of 2014-2015 and worked on Data, Models, and Decisions problems alongside the couple, spoke highly of Bellantoni’s resolve: “Joe does not look at his blindness as a curse or something to dwell on, but rather yet another hurdle [to overcome].”