The day was hot and steamy. Typical for the end of August. We live in the small town of Ruse, which is located in Bulgaria. Here, the summers are extremely dry and hot, and the winters are humid and cold. We had just returned from a family vacation in the mountains. Ventsi couldn't wait to return to training. Soccer was everything to him. He had been training since he was five years old and of course, he dreamed of becoming a famous football player. Conceived in vitro, long-awaited, and dreamed of, he and his twin sister are the most beloved children. We were an average family until the day when Fate had another plan for us. The afternoon was sweltering and suffocating. Nothing foreshadowed that there would be a storm.

I hadn't looked at the forecast because I didn't have such a habit. Unfortunately, later, I saw that this was the only day of August when storms and thunder were expected. I sent him to training with his father. Ventsi couldn't wait to get back on the field. He smiled and said bye, Mom, and no one had guessed he would never come home. After 7 p.m., it got dark outside; black clouds were coming, but it was still sweltering and stuffy. I was at home with his sister and reading a book when a loud bang shook the windows. My heart stopped beating! My daughter jumped out of the room and screamed in hysterics that something bad had happened, that something had happened to Ventsi. I started calling my husband. He refused me and hung up on me. I knew that something was wrong, but I did not imagine at all that my son was lying lifeless 500 meters from home.

Then everything is like a fog in a dream... The phone call, the emergency room, the doctors who tell me that they have not been able to resuscitate him. He is lying in the intensive care unit with his eyes open, still warm and as if he is smiling at me, Mom; everything is fine! But miracles don't happen! More than the doctors I realized that his heart stopped on the field and he never resumed vital functions again. One moment and the end! He didn't feel anything, and he didn't even understand what was happening. So many children and the lightning passed through him as if he had been chosen! Indicated for something more important! My child died in front of his father's eyes Without him being able to do anything to save him. Later, from the club where he trained, an international football tournament was organized in his memory. And almost a year later, he is missed as much as that night when he did not come home. As long as I am alive, I will not allow this child to be forgotten. He deserves to be remembered and talked about. Perfect and a smiling child! Smile #ForVentsi - Hopa ByTOBA (Ventseslav’s mom)

Ventseslav Georgiev’s Story

Jacob’s Story