A NEW PROSTHESIS FOR A UKRAINIAN CHAMPION

The Ukrainian athlete, record holder and 2004 Paralympic Games champion, Anton Skachkov, received a prosthesis from the government ten years ago. Since then, there has been no opportunity to replace the product, which has already worn out.  Anton lost his right hand at the age of 13 as a result of the detonation of an explosive device. While still in hospital, he began training to regain some of his lost abilities and skills. After rehabilitation, he decided to have a go at sports for people with disabilities. 

In his ten years on the national team, he became Paralympic Games champion and world record holder in the long jump. Today, Anton works as a coach at a youth sports school for the disabled. In daily life, he is dependent on a functional mechanical prosthesis.

“The state does not pay for such prostheses. The last time I got a cosmetic one was in 2011 – a useless thing”, Anton says. The Red Line Foundation worked together with “AE. BRIC” (a branch of Ottobock in Ukraine) to help Anton get a prosthesis that will allow him to carry out his daily activities and coaching, drive a car, ride a bike, go fishing with his family and be as independent as possible.

Anton says: “With this prosthesis, I can grab a phone, a glass. Now I can fish, life is much brighter. The new prosthesis will also help with coaching. When I work with children, I need to use sports equipment. A mechanical prosthesis is too expensive to buy. I am grateful to the fund and the specialists at the prosthetic company”.