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

A 40-year-old married father of two who fled war-torn Ukraine to give his family a better life was killed along a North Carolina freeway by an alleged drunk driver.

Yurii Vakhniak, remembered by a family friend as “a big, fluffy, friendly teddy bear,” was loading cars for his vehicle-shipping business along Interstate-70 on March 13 when he was struck and killed, according to local reports.

“He was a good guy who gave everything he had to his friends and his family,” pal Alex Bloom told WNCT-TV last week.

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 started a company, Anastasia Services Inc., named for his daughter, Bloom told WNCT-TV.

“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.”

Police said the 26-year-old driver accused of killing Vakhniak, Seydina Ndiaye, has been charged with felony death by vehicle, according to the outlet.

Ndiaye was allegedly driving with a revoked license and already had three prior driving while intoxicated busts, one from 2015 and two others still pending.

“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.”

Vakhniak 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, Bloom said.

The online fundraising page to help Vakhniak’s family had raised more than $28,000 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.”