amputate the legs of the former Russian ice dancer – Corriere.it

He was hospitalized with pneumonia, but his condition worsened due to respiratory failure and doctors were forced to amputate part of both his legs.
Roman Kostomarov

, a former Russian ice dancer, Olympic champion in Turin 2006, has never stopped wearing skates, has continued to participate in ice shows in recent years. Just one of these, according to what was reported by the Russian media, would have forced him to be hospitalized on 10 January. And then to the amputation of the legs.

Kostomarov, that day, was supposed to participate in Ilya Averbukh’s ice show. He also didn’t make it because in the previous days he had performed outdoors in difficult conditions, with very low temperatures. He had already been tried, up to the sudden worsening, and the consequent transfer to a hospital in Kommunarka where he was connected to artificial pulmonary ventilation machines due to severe respiratory failure. Tools such as Ecmo (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation), they write in Russia, have kept him alive. But circulatory problems have led to the deterioration of some tissues: the situation of the legs seemed irrecoverable to the doctors, which is why amputation was necessary.

In Russia they write that hands could also be amputated. In this sense, a source close to the family revealed to the Russian news agency Tass that «they are fighting for hands. The general conditions are improving. But he continues to be in intensive care under the strict supervision of doctors ». Tatyana Tarasova, a former Russian figure skater and coach, commented: “The main thing is to survive in this difficult fight against the disease.” Kostomarov, who among other things turns 46 today, February 8, and who in the past had been at the center of a controversy because he was accused of homophobia, won a gold medal in ice skating at the Turin 2006 Olympics, two medals gold at the 2004 and 2005 World Cups and three more heavyweight victories at the European Championships between 2004 and 2006.