Ural Hockey Player Seeks KHL Return After Paralysis

At the end of 2020, Ural hockey player Maxim Tarasov fractured his fifth and sixth vertebrae, leading to paralysis and the need to use a wheelchair.

He underwent rehabilitation at Dr. Volkova«s clinic in Yekaterinburg, with all expenses covered by the St. Catherine»s Fund.

Three years after the injury, Maxim has learned programming and now hopes to join one of the KHL teams.

«Max has always been a hockey player; now he has socialized and adapted. He was studying chemistry, but after the injury it became problematic to work with reagents. The rector offered him to choose any specialty and transfer without exams. He is now finishing his master»s degree and aiming for a red diploma (honors degree),« said Maxim»s father, Mikhail Tarasov.

During his studies, Tarasov interned at the Traktor hockey club, where he worked on a project for the information transformation of the Politekhnik club, for which he had previously played.

Currently, the former athlete works at the university, creating Telegram bots for teachers on inclusive education issues. This project won him first place in the All-Russian competition «Professional Tomorrow».

«Of course, when people face something like this, all sorts of thoughts can come, but I went through it all and understood. Now I realize that nothing has changed — life, work, study. Maybe I»m saying this as an athlete, but I don«t have any particular difficulties right now,» Maxim himself says.

Thoughts of hockey never leave the young man; he dreams of helping the professional team Traktor, which plays in the KHL.