Yurii Vakhniak father of two who escaped Ukrainian war killed by repeat DWI driver Seydina Ndiaye along North Carolina freeway, I- 70. Had come to the U.S for a better life.
A Ukrainian father of two who fled that country’s war with Russia to the United States to give his family a better life was killed along a North Carolina freeway by an alleged drunk driver.
Yurii Vakhniak was loading cars for his vehicle-shipping business along Interstate-70 when on March 13 he was struck and killed, according to WNCT-TV.
The recent emigre was loading vehicles from Frontline Motors in the town of Clayton onto a three-card hauler that he was delivering to Tennessee when he was killed.
Seydina Ndiaye, the 26 year old driver accused of plowing into Vakhniak upon his arrest being charged with felony death by vehicle. Reports told of the arrest being the third DWI charge in the course of a year for the drunk driver.
Ndiaye was allegedly driving with a revoked license and already had three prior driving while intoxicated arrests, one from 2015 and two others still pending.
‘He sought better life for himself & his family’
‘Yurii was a good guy who gave everything he had to his friends and his family,’ friend Alex Bloom told the media outlet.
‘[He’s a] super hard worker and he was going to grow,’ Bloom said. ‘His journey got cut short.’
An online fundraising page set up to pay for Vakhniak’s funeral expenses described the dad as ‘pleasant, optimistic, happy and cheerful’ and said he had moved to the US ‘as a result of the war in Ukraine to make a better life for himself and his family.’
Vakhniak found work in the transportation industry and invested all his available funds to started his own company, Anastasia Services Inc., named after his daughter according to Bloom.
‘These guys work day and night to provide for their family, grow a business and achieve the American dream,’ Bloom said.
‘They didn’t come here to die. They came here to escape death.’
‘We were all kind of shocked that this person is still on the streets,’ Bloom said. ‘We want to make sure that he doesn’t kill another one of our friends.’
The online fundraising page to help Vakhniak’s family had raised more than $29,500 by Sunday evening.
‘Every penny which is raised by this fundraiser will go to pay for Yurri’s funeral arrangements and to help his family live without him,’ the page states. ‘If possible, his family would like to transport his body back to Ukraine to be buried.’
