Today, Boris Vladimirovich Afanasyev, Director of the R. M. Gorbacheva Institute of Hematology and Transplantation, passed away. With him, an entire era has gone.
In the coming days, many kind words will be spoken and written about the invaluable contribution of Professor Afanasyev to Russian and global medicine. Yet Boris Vladimirovich did no less for Kazakhstani hematology.
Why did Kazakhstan matter to him? Why devote so much time and effort to introducing bone marrow transplantation in another country? This brought him neither fame nor money, and yet Boris Vladimirovich saw in this work with us (or perhaps more accurately, on us) something that we ourselves could not see and still do not fully understand. He believed that Kazakhstani hematology was better than it seemed, and that the only way forward was to actually become better.
With his passing, we have lost someone who supported us and believed in us—sometimes more than we did ourselves. He knew all our weaknesses, saw our shortcomings, understood the mistakes we had made or were still making, and nevertheless gave us his unconditional support. Perhaps this is how good parents should support and raise their children—always loved, even if not always diligent or obedient.