It has been nearly three years since the athlete and ultratrailer Roberto Zanda left the hand surgery facility of theCto Hospital of Turin, an international center of excellence for microsurgery and surgery of the hand and upper limb. The team of Bruno Battiston, director of the department, gave the Sardinian sky runner a new chance to live after the dramatic accident in February 2018 at Yukon Arctic Ultra in Canada, one of the toughest ultra trail competitions.
In that circumstance Zanda lost the track after having already traveled 300 kilometers and wandered for 17 hours in the ice with temperatures up to 50 degrees below zero, risking dying from hypothermia. After being rescued and transported to Aosta in the mountain medicine and neurology clinic of the Parini hospital, specialized in the treatment of extreme freezing, his lower and upper limbs were amputated.
The microrobot repairs the stomach and 3D prints the fabrics
by MATTEO GRITTANI
In the Turin hospital, the ultramarathon runner returned to walk and regain the functionality of his hand by means of two titanium prostheses and an i-limb robotic hand made byMaria Adelaide orthopedic workshop. The complex rehabilitation was faster than one might think. Zanda has faced the recovery path and has also started training again in view of new races.
“Adapting to my new body was my last challenge and I overcame it – he explains. – Today I am already concentrating on the next steps. I have resumed swimming in the pool with a certain constancy, even if unfortunately the lifts have remained closed for a long time because of the Covid. I mainly do free body workouts to maintain muscle tone, such as abdominals and push-ups, a lot of stretching and the inevitable walks alternating with running “.
On your feet in a few days thanks to the hi-tech knee prosthesis
by Valentina Arcovio
Zanda has recently moved to live with his wife Giovanna in a house in the countryside outside Cagliari which develops entirely on the ground floor. “I needed exactly such a place to leave. Everything seems to be functional to my new needs. I leave the house and I am immediately in contact with nature. Three times a week I travel about 15 km, even if I was once used to make 70 a day. Unfortunately, the current prostheses, although advanced, are not sophisticated enough to allow long distances “.
Of Zanda affects the physical strength but above all the inner strength, which coincides with the ability to react. The famous sky runner and ski mountaineer Kilian Jornet argues that “fatigue is a necessary stage in the path of change. When we train, for example, we must make efforts to overcompensate and make adjustments”.
READ ON THE INTERNET
Breast implants, after how long should they be replaced?
A vision shared by Zanda. “Throughout my life, which has been very difficult since childhood due to the many problems I faced in my family, I have always had a very high pain tolerance threshold, both physically and mentally. In competitions I tried to push myself to the limits; I have this great flaw which is the inclination for adventure, for extreme experiences, where the boundary between possible and impossible is measured. Many people, when they see me training now, in my conditions, are unable to what I do. Yet for me this is normal. I participated in ultramarathons on very challenging terrain, ice, mountains, desert, but I found the thrust in nature. Indescribable sensations that I feel only in the solitude of running. Today I do everything I do. I can do it. For me it is already 90% a realization, the 10% that is missing will come with the races, because I will soon be back to doing them. I would love to be able to participate in the Tor des Géants in Valle d’Aosta, the enduranc and hardest trail in the world, I would like to run in front of Mont Blanc. The crowning of a dream, in this 2021, would be for me to have new high-tech prostheses that allow me to return to racing in the desert “.
Arthrosis in the hands, there are prostheses
by Maria Teresa Bradascio
The real turning point after the terrible accident, however, was the CTO hospital where high-level professionals such as Maddalena Bertolini, one of the leading specialists in hand microsurgery, work. “Turn is the right word – says Zanda. – In the CTO department they rebuilt part of my left hand, the thumb and part of the palm, while for the other hand they rebuilt the abutments after the amputation. the pain was great, day and night, but I never lost hope, also thanks to the support of health workers with their competence and humanity “.
.