A Young Father Was Suddenly Killed By An Infected Tooth

27-year-old Vadim Kondratyuk was tough. He had to be to work as a cross-country truck driver, going with little sleep and little time with his beloved family. But when he had a severe toothache in the middle of a trip, he stopped in Oklahoma to see a dentist about the pain. The dentist cleaned the tooth and gave him antibiotics for the infection, and for a while Kondratyuk felt better. But in New York, his mouth began swelling up and the pain returned in full force. His brother, Miroslav, had to help him so he would get home faster. But in Utah, Kondratyuk stopped breathing.

There, he remained in a coma for four days before the infection, which had spread to his lungs and then the rest of his body. Natalia, a close family friend, and their pastors flew in to be with him and await his waking. Sadly, he never did, passing away on Monday morning. Natalia had been hopeful that he would pull through.

Natalia and Vadim had met when she was just 14 and had been married for several years. Together they had two daughters, 2-year-old Vanessa and 11-month-old Maya. While Natalia will have plenty of help taking care of her daughters from her large family and church, she knows things will always be harder without Vadim.

If you would like to support the Kondratyuk family, you can visit their GoFundMe page. If you have any words of encouragement, feel free to post them in the comments below, and share their story with your friends.