Alexander Galimov became the only Lokomotiv hockey player to survive the Yak-42 plane crash. After a severe accident, he fought for life for several more days ...
Life before the accident
Hockey player Alexander Galimov was born in the city of Yaroslavl on May 2, 1985. For the first time, the future goalkeeper of Lokomotiv entered the ice rink at the age of five. The whole career of Alexander proceeded within the walls of the club of his native city. At the age of thirteen, Galimov began playing for the youth team Lokomotiv-85. Since 2000, his club won three times in a row.
In 2002, Alexander began performing in the second composition of his native team in the First League of the hockey championship. Through the efforts of Galimov, “Lokomotiv-2” the next year became the winner of the championship. Alexander joined professional hockey in 2004 as part of the same Yaroslavl club, which first played in the Super League, and then in the Continental Hockey League. Lokomotiv always stayed at the top of the standings. In 2008 and 2009, he won second place, and in 2005 and 2011 closed the top three.
Also in 2005, another very significant event occurred in the life of a hockey player. Alexander Galimov became a member of the Russian youth team, with whom he won the “gold” at the World Junior Championships.
However, participation in the youth team of the country is not the only achievement of the hockey player. Thanks to his successful game, the athlete was able to get into the ranks of the national team and play for her at the Karjala Cup in Finland. The Russian team won an honorable second place.
Galimov took part in Euro Hockey Tours in 2010 and in 2011.
Only survivor
September 7, 2011 was a fateful date for a talented young hockey player and his home team. Players of the Yaroslavl Lokomotiv, together with the coaching staff flew to Minsk, where the first game of the season was to be held. The Yak-42, on board of which there were hockey players, crashed near Yaroslavl.
Galimov and one of the crew members were able to survive and even independently free themselves from the wreckage of the aircraft. Despite serious injuries, Alexander was conscious for a long time. The rescuers and police officers who came to the rescue to help him could clearly tell his name.
Fight for life
After the disaster, Alexander Galimov was immediately taken to the Yaroslavl Clinical Hospital. For several days, doctors fought for the life of the only surviving member of the hockey team. Despite the fact that the heart of Alexander continued to beat, the doctors gave by no means disappointing predictions. The injuries that Galimov sustained when the plane crashed were incompatible with life. Alexander's body was 80% covered in burns. Also, the hockey player had a burn of the upper respiratory tract, one lung and kidney were damaged. From the hospital where Alexander Galimov was lying, false information was received almost every hour. According to some rumors, the hockey player died on the medical table immediately after he was taken from the scene of the accident.
Doctors fought for the life of an athlete until the very last breath. The very next day, he was delivered by special plane to the capital, at the Research Institute named after Vishnevsky, where he was personally examined by Andrei Alekseev, head of the medical center. Galimov was immersed in a medical dream to relieve pain shock.
Alexander Galimov: funeral and farewell ceremony
To support Alexander came and his relatives in the person of his wife and parents. A huge number of burns was the main obstacle to urgent surgery. The only thing the doctors could do was ventilate the athlete's lungs. However, this help was not enough, and on September 12, the hockey player died from his injuries.
The next day, a farewell ceremony was held with the athlete, which took place in the Arena 2000 ice center. Galimov was buried according to the ritual of Muslims at the Churilkovsky cemetery in his hometown. Fans of the Yaroslavl Lokomotiv, as well as the people closest and dearest to him, came to say goodbye to him.
Family of Alexander Galimov
After death, Alexander left a loving wife and little daughter. Unlike many athletes, Galimov tried never to flaunt his family relationships. His wife and only child were the most dear to him people.
Confirmation of this is the following incident in the life of an athlete. At one of the wedding ceremonies of his friends, Galimov and his wife were spotted by photographers. The day after the solemn event, the pictures appeared on one of the social networks. Seeing the photos, Alexander immediately asked them to be removed.
The wife of Alexander Galimov for a long time was the leader and member of the support group of the native team of Alexander. The young people met thanks to the same club and puck. The couple soon had their firstborn - the girl Christina. As the athlete’s friends note, the daughter of Alexander Galimov is an almost complete copy of his illustrious father.
During Alexander’s stay in the hospital, Marina was always with him. Together with him she flew to Moscow. Like many of the hockey player Galimov’s acquaintances and friends, she completely believed in a positive outcome of treatment.
Parents of Alexander Galimov
Another significant niche in the life of a hockey player has always been the family in which he was born and raised. Alexander deeply honored and respected his parents. The athlete’s father, Saidgerey Galimov, has always been his best friend and reliable assistant. Together they went hunting, fished in the river where the plane with the athletes fell.
Few can imagine what the elderly father had to endure, who suddenly found out about the crash of the aircraft on which his son was flying. Together with the rescuers, Saidgerey himself dived into the Volga in search of the bodies of athletes. Galimov Sr., like no one else believed in a miracle. He, along with Marina, accompanied Alexander on a plane. As noted by others, Said, being next to his son, constantly knelt in prayer. And of course, he hoped until the very end that his beloved Sasha would soon get better.
Eternal memory to the hockey player
Thanks to his father, in Alexander's own words, he came to hockey. Said raised from him a strong-willed athlete, a real man who is able to fight to the end not only for the puck on the hockey field, but also for all people close to him.
Alexander Galimov survived after a severe accident. And although doctors could not bring the athlete back to life, he will forever remain in the hearts of his loyal fans. Friends and comrades remember the athlete as an honest man and always open to the people around him. During the stay of Alexander in the hospital, completely strangers prayed for him, which once again confirms how expensive and valuable the athlete was for this world.