MOSCOW, December 5. /TASS/. Roman Kostomarov, Russia’s 2006 Winter Olympics champion in figure skating ice dance, thought his world was coming to an end when doctors told him he would lose his limbs, recalling his experience within the framework of the VK Lectorium project.

In January, Kostomarov was admitted to the ICU with pneumonia where he was put in a medically induced coma. Due to sepsis, he developed blood circulation problems, and in February, it was reported that the athlete had parts of both hands and all of both feet amputated. Kostomarov received prosthetic limbs, after which he resumed skating and announced that he wanted to skate in front of a crowd again.

"What happened on January 10, seemed like the end of the world for me even though I was totally out of it," he said. "The lights turned out for a long time, I was in a coma and the awful events that happened to me were mostly experienced by those close to me, everyone who loves me. Thank you to my wife and my Mom and my relatives and friends. The pain that I avoided, they felt, they went through the ringer," the figure skater added.

"When I came to, I also realized that something horrible happened to me. When doctors told me that amputation was necessary, this was a terrible blow: I am an athlete and I couldn’t comprehend how to live if I lost everything, not just my feet and part of my hands. This was a terrible blow that made me question things for a long time - why, for what reason? I was helped by support from my wife who said that we will get out of this abyss and swamp together, and will find a way to live on," he added.

Kostomarov, 46, won a gold medal at the 2006 Turin Olympics where he skated in a pair with Tatyana Navka in the ice dance competition. The two are also two-time world champions, three-time European champions and winners of the ISU Grand Prix Series Finals.