Evgeniy Smirnov is sure that he lost his leg due to medical negligence
30-year-old Evgeny SMIRNOV became famous after participating in the “Dancing” project on the TNT channel and filming in the video “Together” by Nargiz ZAKIROVA. An accident, the loss of a leg, but a year later he took to the dance floor again, became an Internet star and even opened his own dance school for disabled children. This New Year, Evgeniy proposed marriage to his beloved girl Nastya. There is only one thing that darkens Evgeniy’s life: he believes that his leg was amputated due to a medical error.
I flew to Moscow from Krasnodar, where I now live, to meet a 13-year-old Artem Nikolaev from the village of Guzhnoshur, he explained to me when we met Evgeny Smirnov. - He is in the hospital with sarcoma. He, too, like me, had his leg amputated. He saw my video with Nargiz before the New Year and believed that I too could live a full life.
Gangrene
In May 2012, in my native Sochi, I had an accident on a moped. After hitting me, the driver disappeared. After some time, he returned to pick up the flying license plate. At this time I was lying on the asphalt and waiting for an ambulance. She drove for about 30 minutes.
Attending doctor Sergei Starikovsky diagnosed Evgeniy with a double open fracture of the tibia and decided to install a device Elizarova.
They sewed up my head, secured the device and forgot about it for three days,” recalls Smirnov. Anti-grain serum, as documents show, was administered only on the fourth day, when the leg had already begun to rot. I was urgently transported to the purulent surgery department of Khosta Hospital No. 3, where the operation was performed. Doctor Kiseleva so she said: “Why did they delay it? Gangrene reached the waist. Pray for him to survive." She saved my life. Then I was transferred to the Krasnodar hospital, where they sewed up my head again and corrected the work of the doctors of Hospital No. 1.
You can't punish a doctor
After leaving the hospital, Evgeniy tried to figure out who was to blame for having his leg amputated. Accident or medical negligence?
I read the accident case and wrote a statement. The person responsible for the accident was given a suspended sentence, and three years later he committed suicide. When they began to figure out whether everything had been done correctly, they realized that the doctors had missed their time. A criminal case was opened, but an examination in Krasnodar showed that there were no violations, and it was closed. After I filed an appeal, they conducted a second examination in Sochi, which again yielded nothing. My leg is kept in the morgue, and now a third examination will be done on its tissues - already in Moscow. Only nothing will happen to doctor Starikovsky. According to the law, he could only be prosecuted for three years.
But tired of waiting for the criminal case to be considered, Evgeniy decided to file a lawsuit in civil court.
Evgeniy has the right to demand compensation for all treatment expenses and financial assistance for loss of ability to work, explains the lawyer Timur Marshani. - Requirements are made to the Ministry of Finance and the Department of Health. An independent forensic examination needs to be done. The statute of limitations for such cases where personal injury was caused is 10 years. The negligence and inaction of doctors is the reason why the patient lost the ability to walk.
Chance meeting
Once, a friend of Evgeniy suggested that he try his luck on the TNT channel project “Dancing”.
It took me a year to get into shape. I started doing push-ups and pumping up my muscles. With my dance partner Dasha they choreographed a number and performed it. When the jury saw what kind of lifts I was doing without a leg, their mouths agape. But I did not participate further in the project. It is clear that I am no match for those who have two legs.
But another miracle happened in my life. A year ago, when I was flying out of Moscow, I met a girl, Nastya, at the airport. She recognized me from a television project, came up and introduced me. She works as deputy director of a construction company. On New Year's Day I proposed to her, Nastya said yes.
And dancing is my life. In Krasnodar, together with Dasha, we opened a dance school for disabled children. Among the 15 children there are participants with cerebral palsy and Down syndrome. It turned out that in our country there are many different dance competitions for such children. I also applied to participate in the “Minute of Fame” show.
Because of the tough judging. This time, the audience was outraged by the judges' reaction to the performance of a disabled dancer. 30-year-old Evgeny Smirnov lost his leg in a car accident, but overcame himself and continued dancing.
Vladimir Pozner was the first to speak out about the performance: “I am one of the public’s least favorites, so I will continue along this path. First of all, I absolutely admire you. But, it seems to me, there are forbidden techniques - when a person comes out, like you - without a leg, it is impossible to say no. This is some kind of feat, a person was able to overcome something that few can overcome. And this, in my opinion, is the prohibition of admission. It hurts me when such techniques are used in art. I am delighted, but I will vote against it.”
" Moment of glory"
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Then Renata Litvinova took the floor and suggested fastening the dancer’s second leg so that the disability would not be noticeable: “I know that in our country it is difficult to be an amputee. Sorry for calling you that, but in our country the minimum has been done for people like you. This is the main reason that you should stay on this project. About the prohibited technique - they may fasten your other leg, but it may not be so obviously missing. So as not to exploit this topic.”
" Moment of glory"
Dancer Evgeniy said that he was not going to do anything like that: “I walked through life as a dancer, I danced freely. Some additional elements - then it will be a technique. Now I dance the way I live, and I live by dancing.”
" Moment of glory"
Sergei Svetlakov defended the show participant: “Now there was a number on stage, supported by the right music. He danced like a dancer, not like a cripple. He did what many of us with two legs cannot do. I believe that this is not only a feat, it is close to art.” After Svetlakov’s speech, Renata agreed: “You should be in this project, there is nothing to discuss.”
" Moment of glory"
Evgeny Smirnov responded to the judges’ insults in an interview with Life.ru: “First of all, I’m very offended. All of Russia heard these words. And in general, hearing these remarks in your direction, amputee, not amputee, what’s the difference! I came to show what I can do, but they told me something like “go fasten your leg, and only then dance.” In general, they made it clear to me that there was nothing to do here without a leg. I don’t think there should be people on the jury who allow themselves to say such things. This is humiliating even for Litvinova herself.”
“I talked with the contestants, with the regular staff, and everyone was simply shocked by what was happening on stage, by our dialogue, or rather, monologue, because I didn’t even have time to object. After that, many people doubted whether to go on stage at all; fear settled in some of their souls,” Evgeniy continued.
Before the hype around the jury’s inappropriate behavior towards the 8-year-old participant in the project had died down, Litvinova and Posner again disgraced themselves.
The entire Internet has been talking about this for the past week. Director Renata Litvinova and presenter Vladimir Pozner were harshly criticized for their attacks on 8-year-old Vika Starikova, a participant in the “Minute of Fame” who performed Zemfira’s song.
A little thin girl in a white dress stood, looking at the floor and shedding tears, while the masters of show business criticized her and her parents for the song being too serious, for the very fact of participating in an adult program, and simply for everything in the world. Basically, the child came, sang and played. Myself. They had to listen to him, evaluate his voice and performance, and not dig deep and not ask about the meaning of the song between the lines. But they dug while Vika was crying.
It would seem that after such a story, the jury members should have started to at least choose their words more carefully for those who come to the show to demonstrate their abilities. Moreover, both are aces in rhetoric. But…
This weekend, viewers saw on air a touching and highly professional performance by dancers Alena Shcheneva and Evgeny Smirnov. Zhenya is already familiar to many from his participation in the show “Dancing” and the video for the song “Together” by Maxim Fadeev and singer Nargiz.
Litvinova, as soon as the number began, sighed with displeasure, and her neighbor Vladimir Pozner also winced. In front of them stood a handsome guy who was missing one leg...
Zhenya spun on his hands, lifted his partner, performed the most difficult somersaults and flips - such that it would seem impossible to stand on two legs.
Sergei Svetlakov spoke first. He asked the audience to applaud again.
This is the case when there is no pressure for pity, when a person continues to live life to the fullest and prove to everyone else, the weaker, how it should be done,” Svetlakov praised the guys.
But Posner did not agree with his colleague and warned in advance that although he had already fallen out of favor with the audience, he was not going to change his course.
“I absolutely admire you, but it seems to me that there are prohibited techniques,” Posner said. - When a person comes out, like you, without a leg, it is impossible to say “no”, because this is some kind of feat, a person managed to overcome something that many could not... It hurts me when such techniques are used in art.
Actor Sergei Yursky first stated that he agreed with Vladimir on the topic of prohibited techniques, but the number was beautiful, this is a feat, and left the couple in the project.
Renata Litvinova this time turned out to be “more eloquent” than all her colleagues.
“I know that in our country it is difficult to be an amputee,” said the actress. - Sorry for calling you that. This is probably the main reason why you should stay. Or maybe you should fasten the other leg so that it is not so obviously missing, so as not to exploit this topic?
Svetlakov immediately rushed to Zhenya’s defense.
He danced like a dancer, and not like a cripple, he did what others with two legs cannot do,” Sergei explained to Litvinova.
The couple remained in the project, as well as the aftertaste after the jury’s speeches... By the way, this is how the jury reacted in the “Dancing” program. Agree, a completely different reaction.
Zhenya himself, of course, bravely endured the broadcast - after what he experienced, you probably become more impenetrable.
“Of course, I feel uncomfortable. People of such a level as Pozner and Litvinova allowed themselves to make unprofessional offensive statements. “I didn’t expect such bad manners from them,” he said in a conversation with Woman’s Day correspondent. - In principle, I was ready that they might not let me go further, but it’s impossible to prepare for offensive remarks. But look, it wasn’t just me that they treated rudely. They brought many people to tears, let’s remember at least the little girl from the previous issue who sang Zemfira’s hit... And those who were not shown, and tears behind the scenes...
Thousands of people write to me, and they are all shocked by what was said. It’s especially unpleasant for my fiancee - after all, she was standing behind the scenes at that moment and heard everything.”
Let's be honest (anonymously): did Zhenya's performance bother you?
No leg? It was so cool that I didn't notice it!
To be honest, Posner voiced an unpopular opinion: it is impossible to treat such people the same way as other participants
Zhenya is definitely a great guy, but...
We raised a very important issue: we need to give disabled children the right to live with us on an equal basis!
It’s not hard to guess that Maxim Fadeev was one of the first to urge the judges to watch their words.
When he and Nargiz presented the video “Together” in September 2016, the producer immediately wrote that this story was to some extent personal for him, because he lost his hearing in 2005, but did not give up. Even before the “Dancing” project, Evgeny Smirnov was a famous breakdancer, but several years ago he was in a car accident. Doctors decided to amputate the leg. Agree, such a blow of fate is difficult to bear; it is impossible to even imagine how the guy did it. And it is not surprising that Fadeev, familiar with Zhenya’s story, could not remain silent.
“I can’t understand how Litvinova’s remarks could be broadcast. If it were a live broadcast, then it would be understandable, but it is common knowledge that the show is being recorded. They make a show out of this pain,” the producer wrote on social networks. And he started a new avalanche: Zhenya was bombarded with words of support in the nets.
But on the other hand... Let's remember the winner of the show “The Voice. Children" by Danya Pluzhnikova, who captivated everyone with his vocals. The winner of the “Amazing People” project is musician Eduard Nekhaev, blind from birth, who has the ability to echolocation. He was able to ride a bicycle across the stage without hitting a single obstacle, even though he had only been learning to ride for three days. The man saw with his ears!
The outrageous thing about the story with Zhenya Smirnov is that not every member of the jury saw the dance. Will all of them - the evaluators - be able to perform such complex supports? Not at all. But they didn’t look at Zhenya’s skill, they looked for the missing leg, admitting that they were embarrassed to look at the guy.
In her own words, Renata Litvinova showed how Zhenya’s mere presence embarrassed her. Amputee man. The one who did not fasten the other leg... Which also hinted at the problem of disabled people in Russia. Most likely, it would be easier for the sophisticated star, the style icon, to judge if Eugene had put on a prosthesis, then his skill would not have hurt her so much. But that would be a different story.
MEANWHILE
5 most scandalous quotes from Renata Litvinova
We will not defend Renata, but we invite you to remember what the director said over the years during her numerous speeches, programs and interviews.
In the Film Premieres program:
“Basically, how do ugly girls get the idea to become actresses? Jennifer Aniston. How scary she is. I don’t understand this paradox, why such an ugly woman with such a turn of her cheeks suddenly became a star.”
Dancer Evgeny Smirnov, whose personal life has recently become of interest to many, was born in 1986 in the resort village of Lazarevskoye, in Sochi.
Evgeniy studied at secondary school No. 75. He became interested in dancing in the 9th grade. At first, his main passion was breakdancing. After graduating from school, he and his friends created a team from two schools called “Freestyle Mastazz”.
After some time, the guys went to participate in the first serious competition “Second Wave”, where they took 2nd place in the breakdancing championship.
For more than 3 years, Smirnov persistently practiced breaking. At the same time, he studied at the Black Sea Humanitarian Academy with a degree in Management. She also became interested in extreme sports, and most of all, snowboarding. Almost every weekend, Evgeniy and his friends conquered the peaks of the Caucasus Mountains.
Evgeniy's parents died during his student years. He had to pay for his studies on his own, for which he got a job in construction. He worked as a helper, assembling roofs for houses.
In 2010, Evgeniy graduated from the academy and continued performing with his dance team. They began to win more and more tournaments and participated in many festivals. They also trained young teenagers who dreamed of dancing as well as them.
In 2012, a terrible tragedy happened to Smirnov. He had an accident on his moped. The guy was hit by a car, and the driver fled the scene. He was taken to a local hospital and then transferred to a Sochi clinic. Evgeniy needed urgent surgery. To save his life, his leg had to be amputated. The operation was successful.
As a result, Smirnov became disabled. He went for rehabilitation to Moscow, and then to Yekaterinburg, where he underwent another operation.
Evgeniy did not abandon his dream. He continued to train. I took up rowing, professionally. He took 3rd place at the Russian Kayak Rowing Championship and became a master of sports.
He didn't give up dancing either. In 2015, he took part in the show of the same name on the TNT channel.
In March 2017, Smirnov took part in the “Minute of Glory” program on Channel One, where he was criticized by Vladimir Pozner: “This is a prohibited technique. I am delighted, but I will vote against it.” Evgeniy replied that he did not try to exploit his disability, but always danced freely without adding elements that emphasized the absence of a limb.
Now Smirnov oversees a dance school for disabled children in Kranodar. In 2015, he proposed to his girlfriend Irina. But later they broke up. Now Evgeniy is dating a new girl, Anastasia.
5385 ViewsAfter the scandalous television “Minute of Fame,” the true love of millions of people who admire his masculine character came to him. And we decided to introduce readers better to Evgeny Smirnov.
It was not possible to find him at home; Evgeniy was in Moscow for television filming. The interview was postponed many times, and in the end our conversation took place well after midnight. “You can ask about anything, I’m ready,” Zhenya began the conversation.
The only thing that betrayed fatigue was, perhaps, the voice, which sounded a little quieter than during the day. But he also became much more cheerful when the dancer remembered his first lessons in his favorite breakdancing. “I recently moved to Krasnodar, but was actually born and spent most of my life in the Lazarevskoye village of Sochi. There I started dancing at the age of 14,” says Smirnov. “I saw how older guys were practicing right on the street. I wanted to try it myself. Such a desire appeared and from my friends the same age. In the end, we ordered a video cassette together, because at that time none of us had a computer. The recording was passed from hand to hand and played around for hours. Everyone watched it for one day. Then they began to depict something themselves. "We trained at a construction site. Several times we even had to run away from the police there; it was difficult to explain to law enforcement officers that we were gathering for the sake of dancing."
The conversation smoothly flows into memories of what happened on May 1, 2012. After all, it was this day that became a turning point for the then 25-year-old breakdancer (at that time already the champion of Russia). “I was riding a moped when I was hit by a car. The culprit disappeared, and I waited a long time for an ambulance. In the hospital of my native Sochi village, they performed an operation, which, as it turned out later, was incorrect. Yes, it’s better not to go to hospitals on holidays... Gangrene began. As a result, after some time, other doctors realized that we had to fight for life, and not for a leg,” the dancer explains rather dryly, almost without emotions that remained in the distant past. “When I lost my leg, I felt how they took away what I really loved. I mean, first of all, dancing. It’s difficult to describe my emotions, what was in my soul. Probably, then I fully felt what it meant to lose hope. But the nightmare didn’t end there. I had several operations, surgeons tried to correct what their colleagues had done. I remember how one of them asked to “open up” the terrible stitches on my head and could not resist commenting: “Everything needs to be redone, like sewing up a dog.”
What brought you back to life and helped you overcome the consequences of a terrible accident?
Evgeny Smirnov: Constant support from family and friends. I have two older sisters; my parents died when I was 17 years old. Friends are like brothers. You know, they were exactly supportive, I didn’t need pity. After all, no one was allowed to see me at first. But one friend still managed to get through. He quietly brought me a phone so that I could contact them. After about a month they began to gradually bring things up to date. I don’t even understand how my story caused such a resonance on the Internet. A lot of people wrote, called... Well, how can you be weak? I couldn't get bogged down in this and essentially let down everyone who believed in me.
When did the thought come that you should continue dancing?
Evgeny Smirnov: When I went for prosthetics, it was about four months later. There I realized that I had to somehow raise myself. I lost a lot of weight, and in general everything was physically bad. I started doing push-ups and trying to dance, but the stump was very painful. Because it hasn’t really healed yet. I gave myself a month to wait. Then I began to study a little. True, I had to regain my balance; on one leg everything is completely different. Plus my remaining leg was also broken. I had to move through the pain, “pump up” it. The fracture healed, it was necessary for her to gain muscle and become strong. It would seem that ordinary squats helped. Later, back into battle - to dancing. I trained, fell, trained again and fell again. How else? I really wanted to live and dance like I did before the accident.
At first, out of habit, I began to remember the movements of my breakdancing, and after a while I got the idea of staging a program in a duet. My dance partner Dasha immediately agreed. There it was necessary to raise it. That is, not only your load, but also her 45-50 kilograms. It has become more difficult, of course. But the more complicated it is, the more interesting it is. There was excitement and purpose - to stage this dance. I forced myself to believe that I could lift her and perform all the lifts. I worked very hard and everything worked out!
Did you go on the TV project “Dancing” with this number?
Evgeny Smirnov: I was offered to go to the casting back in the first season, but then I had just finished rehabilitation and had already gotten a job as a tourism manager. But he still went all-in for the second season. I left my job and started studying to participate in the project. It was our couple dance with Dasha that we decided to show to the public. It took a long time to select the music and remove rough edges. In two months the program turned out to be practically new. We ended up dancing to Maxim Fadeev’s song Breach the line.
It was my first time on stage after the accident, and I was terribly worried. But everything went very well. Many saw the performance, including Fadeev. He wrote a comment online saying that we were great. After some time, they called me and offered to participate in the video for the song “Together”. I asked them to take down the song. She hadn't come out yet then. I liked the composition. But I didn’t agree right away, I promised to think about it and call back in three days. The reason was simple - at that time, Dasha, with whom we have been dancing for 15 years, was pregnant and, of course, could no longer dance for the video. In the end, he called back and explained the situation...
Jumped with a parachute six times: three times in Russia and three in France. I like the feeling of flying
The search began for another girl, who was found in Krasnodar. The deadlines were tight, so we danced and choreographed the number quickly - literally in a week. It was a very busy period: we had to travel from Sochi to Krasnodar. Two training sessions in each city. We worked hard, despite the summer heat.
What does dancing mean to you now? Hobby, work or life's work?
Evgeny Smirnov: Dancing for me? I dance every day. This is my life, I live this. And my life is quite full, I think, even more interesting than that of many quite healthy guys.
For example, in order to constantly keep my body in good shape, I decided to take up rowing. He followed the example of his father, who worked all his life at the shipyard in Lazarevskoye. They even set up a yacht themselves and went around the world. As a child, I remember well how my dad took me for rides on a “tuzik” (a boat with oars). And I him: he sat in the bow of the boat, and I rowed. Memories prompted me to row. And two years later I took second place at the Russian Cup, and ended up third at the national championship. Nowadays there is less and less time for this. Of course, I will practice, but it’s unlikely that I will be part of the national team. And the goal was achieved - I wanted to become at least the third in the country in this event.
My love for extreme sports has not gone away either. Last year I jumped with a parachute six times: three times in Russia and three in France. I really like the feeling of flying, when you soar in the clouds like a bird.
Now I seem to be ready for anything and can feel more clearly and enjoy life more.
Is there any achievement that you are particularly proud of?
Evgeny Smirnov: Yes, I created the public organization "Inclusion" and fulfilled my dream by opening an inclusive dance school for disabled children in Krasnodar. We have 30 schoolchildren with disabilities. Of course, there are still many problems, mainly due to the premises. It's hard to find one that fits. After all, we don’t have enough walls; we also need to make it easier for the kids to get there. And there are few conditions in the city for such people. You forget about all this only when you come to class and see their smiles and efforts. When a child is interested, it doesn’t matter what his diagnosis is, he still strives and does it. The main thing is to involve him, to show him how beautiful it is. The children who study at our school change. They become active and joyful.
But there is another idea. I would like to do something more for children: open a full-fledged social and creative sports center. So that there would be not only dancing, but a variety of activities. A place where guys could develop in completely different directions. I think that both children with disabilities and ordinary children should definitely study there, so that complete inclusion, mutual understanding and mutual support reign within the walls of the center.
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Litvinova and Posner apologized...
The scandalous broadcast of “Minute of Glory,” where Renata Litvinova called Evgeny Smirnov an “amputee” and Vladimir Pozner spoke out against a dance number that allegedly used a “forbidden technique,” received a great public outcry. The day before, the judges apologized to Evgeniy on air, but he still decided to leave the project. “I want to apologize not for what I said, but for the fact that I said it in a way that was not understood correctly,” Posner says. “It’s your resentment that speaks, but if you want to speak on behalf of people like you, you must pull yourself together and continue to fight. I didn’t want to offend you, because I voted “for,” says Litvinova.
However, the words of apology made by the judges could not dissuade Evgeniy. He thanked them and said that “he danced and will continue to dance, even if he leaves the project,” and that this will be an example for people who find themselves in the same situation as himself.
Prepared by Susanna Alperina