Ryszard Tomaszewski (born 20 August 1951) is a retired
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
*Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
Paralympic powerlifter,
discus throw
The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disk (mathematics), disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than their competitors. It is an classical antiqui ...
er and
shot put
The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...
ter. He was a triple
Paralympic champion in powerlifting and a two-time
medalist in athletics.
Life changing accident
In 1971, he was involved in an accident at work in
Żelazno where he and a team of other geologists went to research the construction of a bridge near the town. A 800kg chisel from a
drilling tower
A drilling rig is an integrated system that drills wells, such as oil or water wells, or holes for piling and other construction purposes, into the earth's subsurface. Drilling rigs can be massive structures housing equipment used to drill wat ...
fell onto him and a drill technician, the mechanical instrument hit the technician on the head and hit Tomaszewski's back. The pier that they both stood on collapsed and they fell into the water. They were both rescued from the water but they were both unconscious, the technician had lost a lot of blood from the accident but Tomaszewski had a suspected broken
vertebra
The spinal column, a defining synapomorphy shared by nearly all vertebrates,Hagfish are believed to have secondarily lost their spinal column is a moderately flexible series of vertebrae (singular vertebra), each constituting a characteristic ...
. The two casualties were thrown into the back of a car and were taken to hospital in
Kłodzko
Kłodzko (; cz, Kladsko; german: Glatz; la, Glacio) is a historic town in south-western Poland, in the region of Lower Silesia. It is situated in the centre of the Kłodzko Valley, on the Eastern Neisse river.
Kłodzko is the seat of Kłodzko Co ...
, halfway through the journey, the technician was taken by ambulance and went to the nearest hospital while Tomaszewski was still in the car, he described the road as very bumpy and the car was travelling very fast. Once he reached to the nearest hospital, the doctor who examined him confirmed that he had suffered a
spinal cord injury
A spinal cord injury (SCI) is damage to the spinal cord that causes temporary or permanent changes in its function. Symptoms may include loss of muscle function, sensation, or autonomic function in the parts of the body served by the spinal cor ...
.
Tomaszewski was in an
induced coma
An induced comaalso known as a medically induced coma (MIC), barbiturate-induced coma, or drug-induced comais a temporary coma (a deep state of unconsciousness) brought on by a controlled dose of an anesthetic drug, often a barbiturate such as ...
in a hospital in
Wrocław
Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...
to receive treatment and received rehabilitation in
Konstancin
Konstancin is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Góra Świętej Małgorzaty, within Łęczyca County, Łódź Voivodeship, in central Poland. It lies approximately north-east of Łęczyca and north of the regional capital Łó ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tomaszewski, Ryszard
1951 births
Living people
Paralympic powerlifters for Poland
Paralympic athletes for Poland
Polish male discus throwers
Polish male shot putters
Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Paralympics
Powerlifters at the 1988 Summer Paralympics
Powerlifters at the 1992 Summer Paralympics
Powerlifters at the 1996 Summer Paralympics
Powerlifters at the 2000 Summer Paralympics
Medalists at the 1980 Summer Paralympics
Medalists at the 1984 Summer Paralympics
Medalists at the 1988 Summer Paralympics
Medalists at the 1992 Summer Paralympics
Medalists at the 1996 Summer Paralympics
Wheelchair discus throwers
Wheelchair shot putters
Paralympic discus throwers
Paralympic shot putters
People from Kalisz County
Sportspeople from Greater Poland Voivodeship