science | January 12, 2026

Hard-working dad who fled war-torn Ukraine killed by drunk driver

A 40-year-old wedded dad of two who escaped war-torn Ukraine to give his family a superior life was killed along a North Carolina interstate by a supposed alcoholic driver.

Yurii Vakhniak, recalled by a family companion as “a big, soft, well disposed teddy bear,” was stacking vehicles for his vehicle-delivering business along Highway 70 on Walk 13 when he was struck and killed, as per nearby reports.

“He was a hero who gave all that he had to his companions and his family,” buddy Alex Blossom told WNCT-television last week.

A web based gathering pledges page put in a position to pay for Vakhniak’s memorial service costs portrayed the father as “wonderful, hopeful, blissful and merry” and said he had moved to the US “because of the conflict in Ukraine to make a superior life for him as well as his loved ones.”

Vakhniak looking for employment in the transportation business and began an organization, Anastasia Administrations Inc., named for his little girl, Sprout told WNCT-television.

“These folks work constantly to accommodate their family, grow a business and accomplish the Pursuit of happiness,” Blossom said.

“They didn’t come here to die. They came here to get away from death.”

Hard-working dad who fled war-torn Ukraine killed by drunk driver

— New York Post (@nypost) March 19, 2023

Police said the 26-year-old driver blamed for killing Vakhniak, Seydina Ndiaye, has been accused of crime demise by vehicle, as per the power source.

Ndiaye was purportedly driving with a renounced permit and right now had three earlier driving while inebriated busts, one from 2015 two others as yet forthcoming.

“We were all sort of stunned that this individual is still in the city,” Blossom said. “We need to ensure that he doesn’t kill another of our companions.”

Vakhniak was stacking vehicles from Forefront Engines in the town of Clayton onto a three-card hauler that he was conveying to Tennessee when he was killed, Blossom said.