Marik’s story
Eight year old Marik Kantemirov’s family only moved to Beslan that summer, just in time to go to a new school. On 1st of September, he went to School Number One for the first time with his mother, Marina, and fell into the nightmare that was to unfold in the school gymnasium. During three long days the boy was supporting his mom, calming her. ‘I realized that this was not an eight-year child beside me, but an adult, taking care of me’ – recollects Marina. When the first explosion shattered among the eleven hundred starving, thirsty and terrified people, they started to crawl towards the window. The second explosion smashed an opening near the window and Marina was able to throw her son through the hole and started to help other children. When she noticed that they were actually shooting the children as they tried to flee, she looked out of the window and saw her son simply standing there. She recalls shouting at him “Run!” but he could not hear her – he had been deafened by the explosions. Marik was shouting to his mom ‘I will not run without you!”. Then she jumped from the window herself, grabbed her son and started to run. “If my child was not helping me, I would have stayed there. I already couldn’t think and could not move. But when I saw him standing there waiting for me I realized that he needed me” – said Marina. Today Marik has hearing problems and burns. But more serious now are the psychological problems. After the tragedy he matured very quickly. In the gym he was thrust into manhood far too soon, supporting his mother as a father would his daughter. Since March this year, Marik and his mother, recognizing the long-lasting debilitating effects of psychological trauma, have started attending the Family Rehabilitation Centre BINONTE opened jointly by the Ministry of Education and Science, RSO-Alania and UNICEF. Marik attends emotional rehabilitation classes and physical therapy procedures while Marina visits a psychologist. Despite the horror of the tragedy, the family has decided to have another child. Now Marina is carrying her third boy and sincerely believes that her children’s future will be bright.
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