Doctors confirm injured Russian skier paralysed
AFP March 6, 2014, 2:52 am
Moscow (AFP) - A Russian freestyle skier who was hospitalised after a serious accident at the Sochi Winter Olympic Games is permanently paralysed, Russia's Freestyle Federation said Wednesday, citing her doctors.
Maria Komissarova, 23, is in a German clinic after suffering a fractured spine in a crash in training for the ski cross event at Sochi 2014, by far the worst accident of the Winter Games.
"Due to the severity of the injury, the functions of the spinal canal are not regenerating," the federation cited specialists at the German clinic as saying.
"In the opinion of the specialists, Masha will be able to move around independently using special equipment," the statement said, using a diminutive for Maria.
Komissarova is due to spend another 10 weeks in the German clinic learning to adapt to her condition and will then undergo a long period of treatment and rehabilitation, the federation said.
Komissarova herself wrote on Instagram late last month: "I do not feel my body lower than my belly button... But I am strong."
"Even in these moments I continue to be happy," Komissarova wrote, "though it's very hard."
She thanked her boyfriend Alex Chaadayev (pictured together below) for his support and vowed someday to "be on my feet again."
Picture: Instagram
While still hospitalised in Russia, Komissarova had received a personal visit from President Vladimir Putin at her bedside.
Ski-cross is one of the most frenetic and risky events of the Games, where four skiers race together down a slope filled with jumps, obstacles and banked corners.
