Kostomarov: “After the amputations, I cried bitterly and understood that this was the end”

Olympic figure skating champion Roman Kostomarov admitted that at first he did not believe in the possibility of coping with a difficult psychological state after several amputations.

The 46-year-old athlete underwent several amputations after his hospitalization in 2023 and was released in July.

“At that moment I kept blaming it on the fact that life is unfair, why me. These questions always arise, you cannot find an answer to them. It seemed like he was working, doing what he loved, and suddenly it all ended. When there was one amputation, then another, I was on serious medication, but I still cried bitterly and understood that it was a kind of end.

They consoled me by saying that there would be prosthetics, that there would be modern technologies, but how could I lose my legs and arms? For me it was the end of the world, I wanted to sleep. At first you think, “Why let these people live?” » These are my first emotions. If it weren’t for the support of loved ones who said we would help, whatever happened… Daily support allows us to get through it little by little.

You wait months for everything to take shape, then try on the prosthetics. You sit up, you can’t stay in bed for two minutes. Weighed 60 kg. Your hand does not rise, your head does not rise, you do not understand where to start. A rehabilitation therapist, Oksana, comes to help me lift the weights. I worked in the hospital for three months just to sit normally.

In May I received the first training prosthetics and got back on my feet. The pain was terrible, my knees hurt. I took the first steps myself, but the rehabilitators expected that I wouldn’t be able to walk right away. I walked alone for the first 15 minutes. It was scary, my head was spinning. I didn’t understand everything I had to do to make the pain go away. He started to climb the stairs.

At first I took (the dentures) off and thought, “Well, fuck it, I’ll just lie down.” » Apathy, I thought, let it all go to waste. Little by little, you find strength and desire. I didn’t want the kids to see me in the stroller. The children insisted. Mom insisted that Dad is now called “Robot 3000” – that’s what they call me now. The son said: “Is it possible that your head turns 360 degrees?

At the end of April – beginning of May, I gradually began to believe. When I looked, the people were so big and tall, and I was so small. And when I “verticalized”, on my knees, then standing, I saw how small everyone was. When I got back on my feet, I felt that I could live and move forward,” Kostomarov said during the federal educational marathon “Knowledge”.

Kostomarov, partnered with Tatyana Navka, won gold at the 2006 Olympic Games in Turin, and also won the World Championships twice and the European Championships three times.