38-year compensation battle after teen saved children
A woman from Volgograd told the story of her son, a disabled person of group III, who saved children on a construction site in his teens but became disabled himself. Despite a court ruling finding the enterprise guilty, compensation payments stopped after its reorganization. The elderly woman is forced to beg for alms to pay for her son«s treatment.
Tragedy on Vinnitskaya Street
The incident occurred on March 28, 1986. Fourteen-year-old Yuri was reading on the roof of a garage on Vinnitskaya Street in the Krasnooktyabrsky district of Volgograd when he heard children«s screams.
«I don»t remember what they were building there, but they dug a large pit. The workers went somewhere for lunch, and the little kids climbed into the hole, wanting to build a hut. But the ground was wet, right after the rain, and they started sinking under it,« recalls Yuri»s mother.
«I was just coming from work, with a small child in hand. The kids ran to me, shouting: »Your son has been crushed!« I didn»t immediately understand what had happened, and when I ran to the pit, I almost fell from horror,« the woman shares her memories.
Two Years in Hospital and Legal Battles
The teenager was taken to Clinical Hospital No. 7 in Volgograd, where he spent almost two years. Doctors tried to save the limb, but the leg had to be amputated.
«I pawned all my things in a second-hand store then, to buy medicines and food for him in the hospital. Then, when we were about to be discharged and collect the documents, they told us they had lost our medical records. Is that even normal?» the mother recounts.
In January 1987, the foreman of the «Krasny Oktyabr» plant was found guilty under Article 215 of the RSFSR Criminal Code (violation of construction work rules). In the autumn of the same year, the court ordered the enterprise to pay 526 rubles 61 kopeks (approximately $5 at current rates) as compensation for harm and 417 rubles 60 kopeks (approximately $4 at current rates) for lost earnings.
In the 2000s, the plant was reorganized, which allowed it to rid itself of the payment obligations. The court ruled that the compensation should be paid by the state, but this transition never happened.
«The judge at the hearing was young,» the mother laments. «After the hearing, I approached her. I asked: »How could this be?« And she tells me: »You should have filed the application earlier!« And she lowered her eyes.»
Futile Fight for Justice
Now Yuri lives in a rented apartment in the Sovetsky district of Volgograd. Previously, the state allocated him a room in a dormitory, but according to his mother, the conditions there are unsuitable for a disabled person. To pay for her son«s treatment, the woman sold her home and now lives in a communal apartment.
Roman Grebennikov, head of the legal firm «Spartak», believes the court decision is subject to appeal.
«The reason for the refusal is contained in the court decision itself,» notes Roman Grebennikov. «Another matter is that I disagree with this decision and very much hope that the prosecutor will appeal this decision to a higher instance — the Volgograd Regional Court. Because the prosecutor»s position here is more objective and aimed at preserving the social status of the disabled person with corresponding payments.«
«The attitude towards us in the case is terrible, simply terrible,» says Yuri«s mother. »I tried going to free lawyers: they tried something, everyone advised writing to Bastrykin, but nothing was resolved. And I«m just grateful to the Lord that my son is alive, you understand? Alive.»
