In May 2017, 28-year-old Armenian sambo fighter Kolya Karapetyan won a bronze medal at the European Sambo Championship in Minsk, Belarus.

Sadly, that same day in the evening in the hotel he felt queasy and went to a local hospital. He was diagnosed with a hematoma of the right cerebral sphere.

Since then, the athlete and his family have been fighting for his life, first in Belarus, and now in Armenia.

The last two months have been the hardest, since the athlete can’t even make the slightest of movement. His speechless face is fixed towards the ceiling of the hospital room.

Kolya’s father, Hrachya Karapetyan, agrees to talk to us once we reach the hospital.

He talks about his son, who started taking sambo classes from the age of six. The father says Kolya had to walk seven kilometers to reach the Artashat Sport School from his village for six years until the family moved to Yerevan.  

After graduating from the Institute of Physical Education, Kolya completed a three-month course of police training and found a job as a police officer.

Kolya was a champion in the 62 kg weight class at the Armenian Sambo Championship, and he received the title - Master of Sport.

After Kolya won the bronze medal in Minsk, he and the family stayed in Belarus for five months.  Kolya had seven head operations. His blood wouldn’t coagulate, and he was in a coma for some time.

Hrachya Karapetyan

Kolya’s family has petitioned the Armenian government for financial help since day one.

They’ve written to the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Sport and Youth, and the Armenian Sambo Federation, among other

Hrachya Rostomyan, the Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs  at the time, visited the family in Minsk and promised to help.

Despite the minister’s promise and the press notice which the ministry released after the visit, all the costs of medicine and transport of Kolya to Armenia were covered by relatives or acquaintances.

The Armenian Sambo Federation petitioned various ministries and institutions for assistance, but in vain.

Kolya was transported to Armenia in November 2017. He was first treated at the Heratsi University Hospital and then at the Artmed Medical Center.

He’s now a patient at Yerevan’s St. Gregory the Illuminator Medical Center.

Hrachya Karapetyan says his son’s condition is getting worse by the day and that Armenian doctors have not been able to offer any recovery solutions.

There’s an offer to treat Kolya in a German clinic, at a cost of €88,000. It’s a sum the family doesn’t have.

Kolya’s father has petitioned the Armenian government, various funds and organizations for the money. The only answer he’s got is, “We have no funds now”.

Hrachya Karapetyan father sighs There’s a note of bitter frustration in his sigh.

“Kolya’s condition worsens day by day. I do not know what to do, whom to turn to. Maybe I should pick up my son’s medals and letters of merit, go out and block the street. In our country, one can be sacked for throwing the flag down on the floor, while the one who raises the flag of the country goes without help.”