Slava Bratishko was born in Minsk, Belarus, and came to the United States on September 5th, 1995 with his mother, sister, and their cat, Ricky, to join his father, Guennadi. 

From a young age, Slava was bright and quick to learn, with a love for science, animals, taking things apart, and drawing. Slava’s dream was to become a marine biologist one day. Slava also went to a Navy Recruiting Center to try to join the Navy, but was denied due to his medical condition. He was a gentle giant, known for his kindness and generous heart. Slava was a quiet Raiders fan even though he had maybe seen a handful of football games on TV. He worked as a building manager for youth basketball leagues and at Dulles airport as a luggage handler and wheelchair assistant when he was still able to.

Slava faced an ultra rare genetic disorder, Unverricht-Lundborg Disease(ULD), with incredible grace. He never used it as an excuse and rarely spoke of it, focusing instead on living life fully and being kind to everyone around him. Despite the challenges of daily medications, he remained strong and never let his condition define him. Slava was always very supportive and didn’t show a drop of jealousy towards not being able to physically do things that his peers or sibling were able to with ease. He internalized his “shortcomings” and grief while managing to smile and show love to others.

He was a loving brother, a devoted uncle, and a mama’s boy who took after his mother, Elena—they were two peas in a pod. He enjoyed heavy metal and German music, video games, playing cards, collecting Pokémon, and being read to. He found joy in the simple things. Everyone always remembered Slava at school because he was just so memorable.

Slava fought for an incredible 10 days in the ICU to be able to breathe and open his eyes and even laugh at a few jokes. He spent another 7 days fighting daily to try to recover from pneumonia but his lungs were just too weak. He fought so hard to try to stay alive in those last days, hours, and minutes. He wanted to continue to share his light and kindness with the world. 

One of his favorite memories was fishing with his family on a private charter in Key West and catching a barracuda. He was also thrilled when his grandmother Rosa, who had visited every summer for decades, moved to the U.S. after her retirement to be closer to him. They cherished that extra time together.

Though he lived a hard life, he did so with remarkable grace. May he rest in peace, doing all the things in heaven he couldn’t do here on Earth. He will forever live on in our memories and hearts.