“Fighting courageously with a serious illness”: Siberian hockey player Mnatsyan passed away after a year of fighting cancer

On Sunday morning, October 6, it became known that Samvel Mnatsyan, a Siberian hockey player, had died in Germany after a long illness. He died in one of the specialized clinics after a year of fighting the cancer diagnosed in the summer of 2018. The death of the 29-year-old player was reported in the Novosibirsk club and the Russian Hockey Federation.

“The hockey player Samvel Mnatsyan is gone. During the year, he courageously fought with a serious illness, but could not defeat the disease. FHR expresses deep condolences to the family, friends, partners, everyone who knew Samvel Mnatsyan, ”the federation noted.

The first reports of the death of an athlete came the day before. Omsk hockey club "Vanguard", whose pupil was Mnatsyan, told on his Twitter about the death of the defender and expressed condolences.

This post, however, was soon removed, and Sibir denied the news, saying that at that time Mnatsyan was still alive, although he was in serious condition. This information was confirmed by his brother David. The “Vanguard” later explained that they received a message about the death of a player from hockey player acquaintances. Nevertheless, the hope that the athlete will continue to fight the disease did not last long.

“Over the past year, the hockey player has steadfastly fought with a serious illness, but failed to defeat it. We express our condolences to all relatives, friends and those who knew Samvel. We thank everyone who supported the defender all this year and did not stand aside. May the earth rest in peace, Samvel. We grieve, ”- said in“ Siberia ”.

The fact that Mnatsyan was diagnosed with cancer became known before the start of the 2018/19 season of the KHL. The defender only moved to Sibir from the Admiral, in which he spent three years and twice participated in the Gagarin Cup, but was forced to interrupt his pre-season training because of back pain. Mnatsyan was examined in Novosibirsk, and after suspicions of oncology appeared, he was sent for re-examination to Germany - a disappointing diagnosis was confirmed there. The Mnatsyan family kept the hockey player’s health problems secret for some time, but in the end, the fact of the disease was made public.

After some time, the player’s agent Shumi Babaev named the cause of the tumor and spoke about the future plans of his client for treatment.

“We have been waiting for the final conclusion of the doctors over the past few weeks. A consultation was held in Germany, which revealed the final diagnosis - oncology. As a result of a blow to the back in one of the games on the sixth vertebra, a tumor formed, which subsequently turned into a malignant formation. This happened within a few months. All this gave metastases to the liver and urinary canals. Last week in Freiburg, where Sam is now, courses in chemistry and radiation therapy began. In October, we are waiting for the resolution of the whole situation and the operation. Samvel’s condition is currently stable, the doctors themselves are surprised that our guy is in a good mood, he regularly goes in for sports. And he believes that he will return to big hockey, ”Babayev wrote on Instagram in August 2018.

The hockey community then immediately responded to the disaster and began raising funds for treatment. According to the agent, for a three-month course of treatment, Mnatsyan needed € 130 thousand.

Since then, there has been almost no news about the state of the hockey player. In September 2018, for the first time, he himself commented on the condition and thanked his team for their support, which had the first match of the season in T-shirts with the inscription “Samvel, you are a fighter!”

“I saw your action with t-shirts, I want to say thank you very much for your attention and support. I am very pleased. I’m doing fine, literally the day before yesterday I completed the fourth course of chemotherapy, I endure it well. Good luck to our team, everything will be fine with us. See you again! ”Said the player.

And here is the feedback from our defender Samvel Mnatsyan, who is currently undergoing treatment in Germany! pic.twitter.com/TTZr1h48lb

Mnatsyan had reasons for optimism. In winter, according to Babayev, 90% of cancer cells were destroyed. But on this progress in the fight against the disease stopped, and the deterioration came.

“I kept in touch with Samvel's father, who was next to him. On Sunday, he was supposed to fly to Germany, I had a ticket for the morning flight. Yesterday Samvel was talking, worried, although his condition had already become poor. I thought I would have time. But closer to night, he felt completely ill. In recent days, he was conscious, recognized relatives. But the condition was already critical then. There was very little hope in the last days, ”Babayev told Sport Express after the death of Mnatsyan.

“All the problems happened because he was diagnosed with a disease too late. I think he had it earlier, because the back pain was a long time. When hockey players undergo examinations, they definitely need to take oncomarkers. It is necessary to check the guys, because their work is dangerous, ”the agent emphasized.

Mnatsyan began his career in his native Omsk, but could not break into the main team of Vanguard and then moved to the Czech Republic at age 20, where he spent one season in Kladno. Then in the career of the defender there were two years of performances in Kazakhstan and a debut in the KHL for “Barys”. In 2013, Mnatsyan moved to Neftekhimik, but could not become the main player. Only two seasons did he gain a foothold in the Admiral and spent three years in it before moving to Novosibirsk.

In memory of Mnatsyan, the matches of the Continental Hockey League on October 6 will begin with a minute of silence. Also, the memory of the hockey player will be honored at the next game of Siberia with Dynamo Moscow and the Admiral's match with Neftekhimik.

The match Admiral - Petrochemist, which begins on Monday, October 7, at 19:30, will be dedicated to the memory of ex-captain Admiral Samvel Mnatsyan.
We will be grateful to everyone who comes to the stands to honor the memory of Sam. pic.twitter.com/blW3IWZb4Y

The funeral and farewell to the hockey player will be held in Omsk after the player’s body is delivered to his homeland, TASS told Shumi Babaev. According to him, all the necessary procedures can take about a week.