Roman Kashpur: Pushing the Limits
Roman Kashpur was just 19 years old when he joined a volunteer military force in his native Ukraine. It was 2016, and Russia had invaded Crimea two years earlier. Roman later signed a military contract with the intelligence unit of the Ukrainian Special Forces.
In the spring of 2019, he stepped on a land mine on the front lines near Mar’inka during the rising Russian conflict. He lost his right lower leg as a result of the explosion. Roman was 22 years old.
Roman, from Khmelnyk in the Vinnytska region, played soccer in childhood but never defined himself as a runner. Within six weeks of his devastating injury, however, he started walking and quickly progressed to running to improve his fitness.
“After being injured, from the very first day, I tuned myself to one thing: I will live an even more active life than before the injury,” he said.
At eight weeks post-injury he broke his prosthesis from overzealous activity. Undeterred, Roman kept up his strenuous routine, and went on to win Ukraine’s Game of Heroes competition for wounded veterans in 2020 and 2021 and set a Ukrainian record by pulling a 16-ton cargo plane more than five meters.
When war with Russia broke out in February 2022, Roman traveled to the war zone, just 30 miles from the Russian border, to train new troops. Thanks to his unit’s quick response, the region was spared attacks.
Roman ran his first marathon last April at the London Marathon, becoming the first Ukrainian military veteran to complete the marathon distance using a prosthetic limb . This fall he will run the Marine Corps Marathon in October and the TCS New York City Marathon just a week later. He has raised funds and awareness for the Citizen Charity Foundation, an organization that assists wounded Ukrainian military personnel with prosthetic devices, rehabilitation, and social support.
He believes in motivating others by showing what is possible. “I am trying to show with my own example that an amputation is not a sentence, a prosthesis is not a limitation, and disability is just a record on paper that does not restrict you in any way,” he said.
Roman and his wife, Yulia, have two young sons. “I motivate my children to always get up, no matter how hard one falls, and no matter how hard it is,” he said. “One must get up and carry on!”
Roman is part of #TeamInspire at the 2023 TCS New York City Marathon, a diverse group of runners whose stories capture the power of running to change lives. Read other #TeamInspire stories at the links below, and check back for more as November 5 approaches:
