The story of a young Paris NN fan who overcame cancer and its consequences thanks to basketball
Vitaly Vesely March 22, 2024, 16:00 Moscow time
Vanya Tunakov had a dream – Nizhny Novgorod fulfilled it.
In September 2016, a young resident of Nizhny Novgorod, Vanya Tunakov, began to fight a deadly disease. At that time he was only four years old. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia. It was this terrible diagnosis that Vanya’s mother heard from the doctors. A malignant disease of the blood and bone marrow in children can develop especially quickly and therefore treatment should be given immediately. Fortunately, Vanya made it. By the summer of 2019, the medical procedures were behind us. The boy overcame the illness. But the difficulties did not end there. Basketball helped me deal with them. And a team from the city of Vanya – Paris Nizhny Novgorod.
The Volga Bank Club helped in the most necessary moment. One might think that the victory over oncology leaves all difficulties behind. Unfortunately, this is not true. Very often, the fight against the disease gives way to the fight against related problems. Return to colleagues, reestablishment of lost connections and fear of being misunderstood. All this can also haunt adults… what can we say about children! And the worst thing is that in certain cases the disease can even reappear.
Vanya Tunakov and Anton Ponkrashov
Photo: BC “Paris Nizhny Novgorod”
In the case of Vanya Tunakov there was no relapse. The child found himself under the sponsorship of the NONC Foundation, which has been helping children with cancer and oncohematological diseases for many years. And as an indispensable physical activity during the rehabilitation period, Vanya himself deliberately chose basketball. “In August I went to a children’s camp,” his mother says of Vanya, “and there was a team of volleyball players with a coach. The coach listened to him and began to persuade him. He then came home, thought about it and decided that, after all, he should try basketball.”
And since the love for basketball only grew over time, it was decided to move in this direction. Paris Nizhny Novgorod has always been distinguished by its responsible civic position. For example, in the New Year’s match against UNICS the team raised funds to help sick children. In total, more than 1 million 119 thousand rubles were donated for the treatment. The residents of Nizhny Novgorod also did not stand aside this time and willingly supported the novice athlete.
The honorable veteran and captain of the team, Evgeniy Baburin, acted as Vanya’s supervisor. Meeting him was a dream for the boy. Training with professional basketball players, Vanya learned the basics of dribbling, practicing shots and playing one-on-one. Along with confidence on the court, confidence grew in everyday life. Now Vanya is fine and we can say without a doubt that the illness is behind us. He now he is safe.
