Oksana Domnina, spouse of Olympic medalist and champion Roman Kostomarov, spoke in an interview with First Channel about how their children perceived the amputation surgeries their father endured.
“The entire situation weighed heavily on them. Nastya is wonderful. He seems to take after me in many ways. I tried to instill in our family the belief that everything will be alright—that they would get through this and that life would continue. He picked up those words from me and began saying that although things were tough after Roman left the hospital, they would endure. He keeps his feelings inside, supports and uplifts him”, Domnina explained. “There was never a moment when she seemed deeply saddened.”
The couple has two children: 12-year-old Anastasia and 7-year-old Ilya.
On December 17, Kostomarov joined Ilya Averbukh’s show “Together and Forever” and returned to the ice for a performance. The figure skater appeared at the end of Domnina and Maxim Shabalin’s exhibition, performing an excerpt from Carmen, the free program that helped him and his former partner Tatyana Navka triumph at the 2006 Turin Olympics.
Earlier, in early January 2023, the skater was hospitalized following New Year performances at an outdoor show. He was placed in intensive care and placed on a ventilator as pneumonia developed, with his condition described as extremely serious. He was transported to a hospital in Kommunarka, resuscitated, and connected to an artificial blood oxygen saturation device before remaining on a ventilator for an extended period.
Complications from the illness led to gangrene, necessitating a series of amputation surgeries: Kostomarov lost both legs, the hand of one arm, and several fingers on the other hand. He was discharged from Kommunarka hospital on July 6 after a stay of 175 days.
Previously, Kostomarov shared the emotions sparked by performing in a skating show after the amputations.
— End of excerpt — [Attribution: First Channel interview coverage and related press materials].