Kęstutis Skučas (born 27 August 1967) is a

Lithuanian Lithuanian may refer to: * Lithuanians * Lithuanian language * The country of Lithuania * Grand Duchy of Lithuania * Culture of Lithuania * Lithuanian cuisine * Lithuanian Jews as often called "Lithuanians" (''Lita'im'' or ''Litvaks'') by other Jew ...

Paralympic athlete who competes in international elite track and field competitions in wheelchair racing and occasionally discus throw and a former

Paralympic swimmer Para swimming is an adaptation of the sport of swimming for athletes with disabilities. Para swimmers compete at the Summer Paralympic Games and at other sports competitions throughout the world. The sport is governed by the International Para ...

. He is a

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champion in the 400m and is also a European bronze medalist in the discus throw. Skučas is a double

World In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

silver medalist and

Paralympic The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

silver medalist in backstroke swimming. Skučas joined the Soviet military after he had left high school aged nineteen. He was sent to

Arkhangelsk Oblast Arkhangelsk Oblast (russian: Арха́нгельская о́бласть, ''Arkhangelskaya oblast'') is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It includes the Arctic Ocean, Arctic archipelagos of Franz Josef Land ...

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and while he served there, he developed inflammation in his spinal cord and sharp back pain attributed to the cold temperatures which often dropped to -40 Celsius. Medics told Skučas that he had developed a tumour in his spinal cord and was taken to emergency surgery in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

which proved unsuccessful as he had lost feeling below his armpits.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skucas, Kestutis 1967 births Living people Sportspeople from Kaunas Paralympic wheelchair racers Lithuanian wheelchair racers Paralympic athletes for Lithuania Paralympic swimmers for Lithuania Lithuanian male discus throwers Lithuanian male backstroke swimmers Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the World Para Swimming Championships Medalists at the World Para Athletics European Championships S4-classified para swimmers