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Kęstutis Vitkus, one of the most famous surgeons in the country, who went to Anapilin on Monday, did a flawless job in these moments, which are especially important not only for A. Sabonis himself, but also for the whole country.
K.Vitkus, the pioneer of plastic surgery in Lithuania, had many famous patients during his life. But perhaps the most famous patient of a specialist who has performed thousands of surgeries is basketball legend A. Sabonis, whom he met in the spring of 1987.
The 22-year-old basketball player lost his Achilles tendon during training for the Soviet national team in Moscow.
Later, Professor K. Vitkus and his father, Associate Professor Mečislovas Vitkus, and Dr. Juozas Olekas, who later became a politician, performed A. Sabonis’s first Achilles tendon operation.
The operation, the results of which were expected throughout Lithuania, lasted three hours. The situation was exacerbated by the fact that the basketball player’s Achilles tendon was sucked out, tissues died in some places, and pain relief medications were immediately allowed. This is dangerous because doing so damages or even breaks the tendon fibers.
In the fall of 1987, three months after the operation, bad news from Palanga reached the doctors at the then Center for Microsurgery.
At that time, A. Sabonis had gone to continue rehabilitation, climbed the stairs, slipped, covered his leg with all his weight and again tore the tendon, tissues and vein.
The basketball player had to lie down on the operating table again. K. Vitkus assured that the second operation was much more complicated.
For the second time, the Achilles tendon had to be used to form and strengthen the removable steel wire and to pierce it through the heel.
After these surgeries, the athlete’s acquaintance and the doctors became friends.
K. Vitkus participated in the wedding of A. Sabonis, did not break ties to this day.
A. Sabonis also had a special bed in the mansion.
After becoming friends, K. Vitkus and A. Sabonis maintained a close relationship.
In an interview with Lietuvos Rytas in 2018, K. Vitkus said that A. Sabonis even has his favorite room in the famous Strange Manor.
“Sabbath always slept in the Great Horn Room. His bed without ends – to fit in it. Those who don’t want noise slept in the room with the little horns,” K. Vitkus said then.
It revealed that the Lithuanian basketball legend and the current president of the Lithuanian Basketball Federation (LKF) even produced in the mansion.
In an interview with Lietuvos Rytas in 2018, K. Vitkus spoke about the mansion that he appreciated together with his wife.
