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UAA Athlete Loses Feet to FrostbiteAll-American runner’s feet amputated after he went missing, sustaining severe frostbite damage
The Kenyan student-athlete who went missing for three days earlier this month is now facing new challenges as doctors are forced to amputate his feet.
Twenty-eight-year-old Marko Cheseto, one of the University of Alaska Anchorage’s top cross country runners, is expected to remain hospitalized for some time after doctors removed both of his feet just above the ankle. Cheseto’s hands are expected to make a full recovery. Cheseto was the subject of a campus-wide search that included rescue dogs, the Alaska State Trooper's Helo 1 helicopter, and dozens of volunteers. He walked into the Springhill Suites near the campus and was taken to a hospital for care. Cheseto released the following statement today: "First of all I would like to thank the University, the City of Anchorage and all of the volunteers that searched for me during my troubled times. As some may know, I've been going through a lot of personal issues. While I am still recovering--both physically and emotionally--I will do my very best to give back to the community that has helped me so much and to my home country, Kenya. I sincerely apologize for any problems that I may have caused." |
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cooljulie said on Tuesday, Nov 22 at 12:54 AM
How incredibly sad, and ironic that he should lose his feet, of all things. Hopefully he has a strong enough will to be back running with prosthetics someday, and meanwhile is able to resolve whatever caused him to wander off into the cold....
77313428aktrir said on Tuesday, Nov 22 at 10:40 AM
Winter - You must know where he was if you can say with such certainty that "no way he got lost for days." It isn't all that hard to understand that once someone starts getting hypothermic, they no longer think clearly and getting lost/confused is easy. You don't have to go very far from campus to be in an area that it would be easy to get lost for days/weeks.
77337566akdave said on Wednesday, Nov 23 at 12:31 AM
People from warm places may not always fully comprehend the dangers of extreme cold; may not even understand how hypothermia and frostbite happen. But, Winter, we will remember to feel no sadness should it ever happen to you!
77367806HOW SAD AND PITIFUL said on Wednesday, Nov 23 at 10:33 AM
Ashamed that he wasn't informed or told about Alaska'a extreme cold and the dangers of frost bite. Pray he recovers,it is just pitiful him not knowing about the frozen dangers. God bless him.
77390453Hmmm said on Monday, Nov 28 at 6:15 PM
I hope that he heals in his mind and spirit as well as in his body. I just had to wonder if the pressure of performance and running maybe caused him to go off track. You never know, I know people from out of state, or even out of country, are ignorant of the extreme cold weather, but for an educated person, making a move like this to do something risky doesn't makse sense. There has got to be some kind of reason behind this story and why he wandered off and the end result is amputation. There is more to this story I think....maybe the pressure of being a running star, I am just speculating, only he would know.
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