Illness and Poverty End Life of Salavat Yulaev Defender Pavel Kozlov

In the continuation of the series «Secrets of Cemeteries», UFA1.RU remembers the tragic fate of hockey player Pavel Kozlov. After his career ended, the Salavat Yulaev player had a heart attack and was later diagnosed with blood cancer—he could not be cured because the family had no money left for expensive treatment.

Kozlov played for Salavat Yulaev for ten years—from 1980 to 1990. He was not originally from Bashkortostan but from Uglegorsk on Sakhalin Island. He began his hockey career in Saratov, where he moved as a child, playing for the local team in the USSR First League before joining the Ufa team and rising to the Top Division.

After leaving Salavat Yulaev, he effectively ended his career, playing briefly for Izhstal from Udmurtia and Toros from Neftekamsk. In 2004, Kozlov suffered a heart attack. He survived but required years of rehabilitation, draining the family«s finances on medical costs.

In 2011, the former hockey player was diagnosed with blood cancer. Nearly all of the Kozlov family«s funds were used for treatment. His son, who was beginning his own sports career, gathered donations from Toros teammates, but when that fell short, they appealed for public help through the media.

Doctors stated that the former athlete was so frail he might not survive the flight to a St. Petersburg hospital for a planned bone marrow transplant. In July 2013, Pavel Kozlov passed away. He was buried at the Southern Cemetery in Ufa. His children recall him as the best father anyone could have.

A similar disease later affected another Ufa hockey player, Rodion Amirov. The tragic story of the 21-year-old athlete can be read in this UFA1.RU article.