Family blames doctors for Samara surfer's death
The wife of Alexander Sozonov, a champion surfer from Samara who died suddenly, says paramedics gave him ammonia to sniff and sent him to rest instead of hospitalizing him.
Oct 28, 2026 0
Alexander died at competitions near Volgograd
Source:
The wife of Alexander Sozonov, a champion surfer from Samara who died suddenly, has recorded a video address describing what happened and whom she considers indirectly responsible for her husband«s death.
This is Sasha in 2016
Source:
Here is what Yekaterina said:
Alexander Sozonov was the founder of the paddleboard sport discipline in Samara Oblast, an athlete, coach and judge in the sport
Source:
«Sasha had no chronic illnesses whatsoever. He voluntarily underwent a full medical checkup every year (and made me do it too). Before every competition, all athletes on the national team undergo an in-depth medical examination. Not at a private company that just stamps a seal for your money, but at a sports medicine center. Where they actually do an ECG, ultrasound and so on.
«Tomorrow the long-awaited Russian Championship and Junior Championship in SUP starts. Today is the arrival day. There was a very impressive opening at Mamayev Kurgan,» Alexander wrote on his VK page a week ago, posting this photo
Source:
He had been at competitions near Volgograd since 18 August. The last day of competition was a 12-kilometer marathon. At the start, the race leader, Maxim, broke his paddle and asked for help. The only one who swapped with him was Sasha. So for a while he paddled with a broken paddle. Then it was swapped for a proper one.
«Calm waters and joyful travels in the harbors of the Lord, dear friend!» Sasha«s loved ones wish him
Source:
I think, being a surfing judge, he realized that Maxim would most likely be disqualified. And so it happened. Maxim took first place, but they were disqualified, Sasha and Maxim, because they swapped. Under the rules, there must be no outside assistance. I think this also left its mark on his emotional state.
After the race he felt unwell, his head hurt and his heart hurt. I«m a lawyer, not a doctor, but even I know that any pain in the chest or heart means the person needs to be hospitalized. Because it»s a bad sign, and time there is measured in minutes.
An ambulance crew was on duty. He went to the medics at around 2 o«clock, we have video and photos. He complained of chest pain and said his head hurt. They simply gave him ammonia to sniff, measured his blood pressure and told him to go rest under the air conditioner.
He lay down and rested. He did not get better. Why didn«t the ambulance at least do an ECG? Why didn»t they send him to the nearest hospital with symptoms like that? We will get to the bottom of this. Statements have already been prepared for all the authorities, including the Investigative Committee. We were only waiting for the official medical report.
According to the official report, the cause of death was a lack of oxygen to the brain due to coronary insufficiency. That is, the heart was not pumping blood to the head or supplying oxygen. Accordingly, Sasha died at around 7 in the evening. And he could have been saved.»
Alexander Sozonov was the founder of the stand-up paddling movement in Samara Oblast. He had recently turned 47. Alexander developed the «paddleboard» discipline in the region and was a surfing champion.
Alexander«s friends cannot come to terms with his passing. The entire sporting community of Samara is sincerely mourning.
Here is what wrote Maxim Sokolov, a close friend of the deceased:
«My dear friend, Sasha Triton, died on Saturday evening. For three days I haven«t been able to pull myself together to write something… But I need to get it off my chest. We have known each other for a very long time. At first through historical reenactment — as the father of the reenactment movement in Samara, he held the first mini-festivals and tournaments.
He was also the first to promote the equestrian-knightly theme in our city. Always searching for something new and interesting, he infected us with it too: the first SUPs in Samara, snowboards, kites. He shared this not only with friends: he organized competitions, coached adults and children, and worked free of charge with children with disabilities.
Not very churchgoing, but sincerely childlike in his faith. I remember once, the first time he confessed, he said: listen, brother, how easy it became, why didn«t you make me confess earlier? And he smiled, he understood it all himself…
After his birthday he stopped by and gave me a cool SUP paddle, I was glad, but I thought: oh, now I have two paddles, where do I put the first one? The very next day I go out to paddle, my companion on another SUP loses his paddle — it came in handy right then.
On 9 August he calls: so, are you heating the banya? And I had been thinking I was quite tired, the people we had invited hadn«t shown up, but with him we went anyway, had a good steam and a talk… He was a little sad — his SUP section was being closed, citing some strange decree, but he didn»t give up, was getting ready for competitions, «and there I«ll see what to do next».»
«Sasha coached children free of charge who represented the region at the Russian Championship. For this, under an agreement with the sports department, a container with SUPs and paddles stood on the embankment for several years as part of the «Samara in Motion» project. This season, the municipal enterprise «Samara Embankments» took the container to an impound lot. No meetings involving officials from the Ministry of Sports, SUP athletes or deputies convinced them to meet the children halfway and ensure they could train on the Volga, because Russian championships and junior championships in SUP surfing are always held on big water, not on small lakes,» Anastasia Romanenko, an athlete, journalist, kayaker and tourist, told 63.RU.
Adults still went to train, but they carried all their gear with them, Anastasia continues.
«But the children ended up with fewer training sessions, and they had to be held on the Chkalov Lakes, where the conditions are completely different. In essence, the training of children and juniors rested on him. Whether there will be anyone to coach them, especially in the conditions created by city officials, I don«t know,» our interviewee says.
The funeral service and farewell to Alexander will be held on Thursday, 27.08, at 12:00 at the Church of Cyril and Methodius, 260 Novo-Sadovaya Street.
Read more
