The teenager was 15 when he found his mother being attacked by their neighbour
Roman Pronin was trying to force her to have sex with him, so Vanya picked up a 3kg dumbbell and hit the man with it.

But the 37-year-old grabbed the weight and struck the teenager over the head before fleeing, believing mother and son were dead.

He lost most of his frontal skull bone in May 2017’s attack.

Neighbours who heard their screams found the pair unconscious in pools of blood.

Vanya was then in a coma for nine months while his mother recovered after being stabbed 27 times.

Surgeons had to remove some of his brain, prompting popular TV presenter Andrey Malkhov to launch a fundraising campaign to buy titanium plates for his skull and to cover other medical expenses.

Although Vanya was making a good recovery, he contracted the flu in October.

A year after the attack, he showed “light signs of being conscious” – and in June, Vanya started to recognise his nurse and could eat liquidised food.

A month later, he was sent to Moscow to a rehabilitation centre and funds were being raised to send him to Spain for further recovery.

He contracted the flu in October.

Vanya’s mother has faced criticism in Russia for only visiting him a few times. She said she could not bring herself to see him because she blamed herself for the attack.

Before the attack she had continually asked authorities to stop Pronin, a convicted murderer who had been released from prison, from living near her family upon release.

A criminal investigation has now been launched into why Pronin was allowed to live near children.