The co-founder of Yandex, Russia’s most popular search engine, has died at the age of 48. Ilya Segalovich has been in the hospital for quite a while now. He was diagnosed with a treatable stomach cancer, but his medical problems were compounded when a tumor in the head was discovered last week.
Due to the head tumor, which was in a critical stage, Segalovich’s brain had stopped working and he had been on life-support. However, when doctors weren’t left with any option and all hope was lost, the life-support system was turned off.
The other co-founder of Yandex, Arkady Volozh, did a blog post in which he announced the tragic news. In the post, he wrote, “The changes in the blood were no longer compatible with life. He had to be given a chance to leave with dignity. The doctors turned him off yesterday, his heart stopped.”
On Thursday, at 1:30 a.m., the brain activity of Segalovich ceased. Volozh wrote in his post, “The death of the brain and absence of breathing – that’s the modern technical definition of death. Existing medical technologies give a chance to keep the body alive for several days on artificial ventilation. This is done for relatives to have time to say farewell. But it is a state of no return. There has not been a single case of revival after the death of the brain.”
Condolences from all over Russia poured in over Segalovich’s demise. He was hailed as a very successful and smart businessman and was considered among the key figures in the Russian IT industry.
Courtesy: RBTH
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