Boy fatally injured while protecting mom from ex-con posthumously awarded Order of Courage
Heroic teenager, Ivan Krapivin, who received horrific head injuries trying to protect his mom from a violent, drunk neighbor and later died in hospital after over a year in coma, has been awarded the Order of Courage.
A decree on the posthumous award was signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday.
The horrific incident occurred in Severodvinsk, northern Russian, in May 2017. Back then, 14-year-old Ivan’s mom, Natalia, was involved in an argument with neighbor and ex-convict Roman Pronin.
Pronin attacked her with a dumbbell and a knife, stabbing and hitting Vanya several times.
Ivan rushed to help her, only to receive three mighty blows with the cast iron sports equipment. The boy received brutal head injuries, but initially survived the vicious attack.
He was left badly disfigured, losing almost all of the frontal bone of his skull, and suffered brain and eye damage. He subsequently spent over a year in coma, ultimately succumbing to the injuries in December 2018.
Natalia, however, did not appreciate the heroic deeds of her son, never visiting him in hospital. She was ultimately deprived of her parental rights, while custody of Ivan was given to his older brother – the person, who actually cared and supported his sibling during his fight for life.
Pronin was arrested, tried and jailed for 14.5 years. He was ordered to pay compensation of 1 million rubles (around $15,000) to his victims.
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
