Like The Rock: inspiring stories of cyborg humans

July 12 in the Russian box office is released the film “Skyscraper” with the legendary Dwayne Johnson. The protagonist of the action-adventure film has a bionic prosthetic leg, but this does not prevent “Die Hard” from saving the city.

Watch on Universal’s official YouTube channel;

We decided to tell the stories of people who not only survived the loss of a limb, but also managed to prove to others that they don’t need indulgences.

Maxim Kublitsky

A few years ago, Maksim lost his leg in a car accident. Doctors informed him that he would never be able to walk again. Unfortunately, the operation was unsuccessful and the doctors forbade him to get a prosthesis. Maxim insisted on his own way. After three months with a prosthesis that pressed and chafed, he saved up money for a second operation and had a new one fitted.

Maxim managed to prove that he could not only walk, but also run, and on mountains. He is now involved in skyrunning, biathlon and cross-country skiing. “I wanted to prove that disabled people are capable of mountaineering on a par with healthy people” – says the athlete.

Since 2014, Maxim Kublitsky has a large number of competitions and climbs on his account.
In January 2017, he conquered a peak in the Altai Mountains along with other athletes.

“Behind me followed more guys, employees of the rescue service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, who carried equipment. And I had to break steps for them, literally pounding snow into them to make it easier and easier for them to overcome this peak. I still felt the strength in me, but the guys also need help”. You can follow Maxim’s achievements on his VKontakte blog page .

Angel Giuffria

American Angel Giffria, despite the congenital pathology of her left hand, managed to become an actress, sportswoman and simply beautiful. Angel is the kind of person who likes to be different from the rest. “I love my bionic arm, I love being called a cyborg, and I think it’s fun,” she says.

Angel studied to be a psychologist, but she was always drawn to the profession of acting. In her portfolio – roles in a dozen movies. The girl takes part in various cosplay festivals and actively shows her life in “Instagram”.

Alexei Ashapatov

Alexei began to engage in sports in his youth. He was prophesied a great future. And so it happened. Alexei Appatov is a four-time Paralympic champion.

He lost his leg after a fight at his buddy’s wedding. No one expected a drunken guest to have a knife in his hand. The ambulance took too long, Alexei lost a lot of blood, gangrene started – his leg had to be amputated.

Doctors recommended him to rest more, and not to return to sports at all. However, Alexey had a goal – to continue his sports career and achieve even greater results. A month after his discharge from the hospital, he took part in arm wrestling competitions. The champion himself tells: “I tried everything in turn – swimming, table tennis, armwrestling. I was very successful in armwrestling competitions and became a silver medalist of the world championships in Japan and South Africa. After all, you can do this sport without a leg!”.

Soon he became seriously interested in track and field. His height, strength and mass became big advantages in shot put and discus throwing. Already a year later, Alexei became European champion in these disciplines. In 2012, at the Paralympic Games in London, the athlete improved his own world record.

Jerome Singleton

The American runner was left without a right leg at the age of only 18 months, it had to be amputated due to the absence of the fibula. 10 years ago in Beijing, Jerome beat renowned Paralympian Oscar Pistorius in the 100-meter final.

“I remember I’m disabled when my leg breaks or someone steps on it and it comes off. And I’m like, ‘man, this wouldn’t have happened if I had a different leg. “But there are advantages. Like, I can’t twist my ankle. Or if I drop an iron on my foot, I won’t even flinch. I’ve got a shin guard on forever now.”

The absence of a leg did not hinder the boy in any way. While still in high school, Jerome Singleton played basketball and American soccer. Talent and hard work helped him write his name in history.

At the same time, Jerome manages to do science as well. He has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and applied physics, as well as a diploma in engineering.

Andrei Sukonkin

Moscow coach Andrei Sukonkin was involved in ski racing and track and field before his injury, then in triathlon and cycling. Now he is also fond of cybathlon.

Cybathlon is a competition for paratriathletes using high-tech assistive devices, including robotics. In fact, it is a test not only of athletes, but also of their prostheses – the one that can better cope with everyday tasks wins. On this platform, each developer can demonstrate and test his technology, see its shortcomings compared to competitors.

Andrei admits that it is more difficult for him to participate in such competitions than others – because of the complete absence of an arm, he has to use his whole body to perform the simplest task.
Andrei’s charges, inspired by the example of their coach, take prizes at the championships. For example, Pavel Sarkeyev won a bronze medal in the 1,500-meter race at the European Athletics Championships.

Adrianne Haslett-Davis

Four years ago, Adrianne Haslett-Davis’ life changed drastically. She was watching the Boston Marathon near the finish line, exactly where two explosions occurred that day. The girl was one of 280 injured and lost a leg.

Adrianna had been practicing dancing since she was a young girl and had many victories in her career as a dancer. After the injury, she did not despair and decided to start a new life. The girl promised herself that she would dance again. The promise was fulfilled.

Strangely enough, in what happened to her, she sees positive aspects. All of this has made her fearless when it comes to doing tricks in dance. For example, Adrianna can now jump off her partner’s shoulders and land on her prosthetic limbs.

Haslett-Davis now performs across the country on behalf of those who have faced adversity in their lives.

Although she enjoys touring internationally, Andrianna hopes to return to teaching and eventually open her own ballroom and dance club in the heart of Boston.