— Dmytro graduated from the National Medical University named after O. O. Bogomolets and received the specialty of cardiologist, – told “FACTS” Maxim Cherepivski, the deceased’s best friend and teammate. — He went through all stages of emergency assistance, worked in capital substations. And for the past 12 years, he has been working in the cardiac resuscitation department of the Alexandrov Clinical Hospital in Kyiv. His golden hands saved the lives of thousands of people because he was truly a doctor from God. In the department, everyone loved Dmytro, a sports legend, and called them Mikolaich, Magic Doctor, SerBeen Doctor, number 88 (under this number he went to the stadium). During his shifts there was always a cheerful, relaxed atmosphere. A favorite of all interns, a true team player. Dmytro was always ready to help and helped, sincere, kind…
In addition to medicine, Dmytro Serbin devotes all his free time to one thing in his life – sports.
– Apparently, his love for sports was passed on to him with his mother’s milk, because Dmytro’s mother was engaged in high jumping, – continues Maxim Cherepivski. — Thanks to an acquaintance, he became interested in American football, which was just born in Ukraine. It so happened that my father created the Kiev Slav team in the capital for this sport, and in 2001 Dmytro came to him for training. So even then I learned about this talented player. But soon American football completely declined and only in 2007 the so-called enthusiasts began to develop it again. Dmytro was one of them.
I remember when I met him at a training session in the capital’s Hydropark, I immediately knew that he had a great future in the sport. We started playing together and showing good results. In recent years, Dmytro played for the capital team “Kyiv Capitals” under number 88. His task was to run on the field and catch balls from the players of his team. He became the champion of Ukraine six times and is part of the national team. He was named the best Ukrainian wide receiver of all time in the Ukrainian League of American Football (ULAF).
— Last year it was he who helped the decisive touchdown and we won the championship of Ukraine again, — says Maxim. – Dmytro repeatedly became the winner of international tournaments – in particular, champion of Hungary and vice-champion of Romania. Few people know, but he was the oldest professional American football player in Ukraine – at 49, Dmytro was in excellent shape. Although in fact he received many injuries – among them broken legs and ribs, which is extremely painful. But after treatment, he quickly returned to the team, because he could not imagine himself without American football.
Erudite, positive, wise, active, always ready to reach the end – this was our Dmytro. You would stay with him for at least a week, you would surely write a book because he was a truly unique person. He handled everything and gave his all on every front in the most professional manner. In addition, he was distinguished by a patriotic stance. In 2013, he threw himself under bullets on the Maidan, helped wounded activists, and then ran to work, saving his patients.
According to the interlocutor, in May the comrade decided to join the ranks of the National Guard of Ukraine:
– When the full-scale war began, Dmytro could not find a place for himself, he was going through all this hard. He then announced that he would serve as a combat medic. We constantly communicated with our friend, together with our teammates we repeatedly helped repair his car on the front line, sent food, clothes, winter tires, spare parts. The last time I spoke to my friend was a few days before he passed away. Dmitri, as always, was cheerful, although he experienced a lot in the war. As far as I know, on that tragic day, October 24, Dmytro with the call sign “Dok” along with his comrades was on the front line – Lisichansk-Bakhmut. The comrade participated in the evacuation of the wounded, providing them with first aid. As a doctor, he had to wait in the “three hundred”, but he saw that there were not enough hands and ran to help. He managed to evacuate two servicemen, and when he was rescuing the third, artillery fire began from the side of the occupiers and a racist mine exploded nearby. The piece has entered vital organs…
Dmytro died a true hero, saving others. He is survived by his mother, stepfather and grown son. Dmytro was buried in his native Kyiv… Next to the coffin was placed his net with his number 88.
Unfortunately, Dmytro Serbin is not Ukraine’s only American football loss. Danilo Boguslavsky (“Woodcutters”, Uzhgorod), Ruslan Sapozhnik (“Wolves”, Vinnytsia), Yaroslav Mohonko and Igor Boyko (“Patriots”, Kyiv), Alexander Anikin (“Eagles”, Zdolbunov) gave their lives defending the country from invaders . ). Teammates of the deceased say that even after the victory, the games will not be the same without such experienced and professional competitors. But they promise that they will be honored with a minute’s silence at each match and thank them for the peaceful sky over Ukraine.
We remind you that the Ukrainian kickboxing champion and Muay Thai world champion Oleksiy Yanin (call sign “Taets”) died during the defense of Mariupol. And in the Luhansk region, Vadim Sotnikov, master of sports of international class, world and European champion, absolute champion of Ukraine in hand-to-hand combat, died in a battle with the occupiers.
Read also: The Ukrainian woman became the world champion in kickboxing and dedicated the “gold” to her brother who died in the war
Photos courtesy of Maxim Cherepivski
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