RIO DE JANEIRO - Brazil's para-sport community was left in shock on Thursday by the sudden death of powerlifter Joseano Felipe.

The Brazilian Paralympic Committee said in a statement that Felipe suffered a cardiac arrest. He was 42.

Felipe was close to qualifying for his first Paralympic Games after setting a continental record in the +107kg class at this week's Rio 2016 test event with a lift of 206kg.

The former policeman was left paralyzed after being shot in the spine while trying to stop a mass jailbreak in 2000.

Internacional Paralympic Committee president Sir Philip Craven said: "I would like to pass on my deepest condolences to the family and friends of Joseano Felipe following his tragic passing.

"Joseano was a well-liked and popular man on the IPC Powerlifting circuit who was on the cusp of qualifying for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games."