He used to sleep among the pipes in the manhole, but now he provides shelter for others

There are stories that cannot be invented—because no imagination can grasp the depth of the fall and the power of the comeback experienced by a real person. Alexei Bersenev's story is a journey from the sports ring to the criminal underworld, from prison walls to a manhole, and ultimately—to a new life that became greater than anything he had before.

Alexei was a Master of Sports in boxing. He trained every day, didn't smoke, and hardly drank alcohol. He even drove children to Ukrainian championships. On the outside—a disciplined, healthy, successful person. But behind this facade lay a different life.

Even before sports, Oleksiy had a criminal past. Boxing, by his own admission, became a way to "keep the knife in his pocket"—a substitute for the violence he had grown accustomed to. He was a member of an organized criminal group. For money, they set fire to houses, nightclubs, and cars. People cried because they were intimidated and beaten. For a time, sports gave him the illusion of control—but it didn't change him from the inside.

A Downward Spiral That Lasted Years

When Alexei ended up in prison, that's where he started using drugs. After his release, the addiction didn't go away—it only got worse. He got married, and a daughter was born to him. It seemed that his new family life could become a source of stability. But drugs destroyed everything they touched.

Injections. Alcohol. Rehab that didn't help. Relapses, one after another.

Then—the blow. A brain hemorrhage. A coma. Alexei was taken to the hospital, where he underwent two craniotomies. He survived—but returned home a different person: irritable, broken, unable to live with his family. His wife could no longer tolerate it. He ended up on the street.

Homeless, penniless, and without a family—Alexei lived at Odessa's Privoz Market and the train station, sleeping on benches. Then he found a manhole—an underground shaft with heating pipes. He dragged some cardboard inside, lay down between the pipes to keep warm, and fell asleep.

When he woke up in the morning and tried to light a match—the matches wouldn't light. There was no oxygen in the manhole. He nearly suffocated in his sleep.

"I realized then that I was already a corpse. How did I, an athlete, such a go-getter, end up in a manhole? I truly prayed to God. And, as it turned out to me, surprisingly—He heard me," Alexei recalls.

That same evening, Alexei went to Starosinnaya Square in Odessa—a place where the "New Life" Christian Mission regularly feeds the homeless. A woman approached him.

— Are you feeling that bad? — I'm in bad shape. I'm on the street.

She recited a prayer of repentance with him. Alexei repented—and wept so hard that his tears flowed like a river.

— Well, shall we go change your life?

He was ready for anything.

Alexei ended up at the rehabilitation center of the "New Life" Christian Mission. It was there, he said, that the Lord began to touch him. He completed rehabilitation. He was baptized in water. He promised God to serve with a clear conscience.

At the time of the interview, Alexei had been clean for three years—no drugs, no alcohol. Absolutely nothing.

Moreover—he didn't just recover. He began serving others. Alexei became a church deacon and coordinator of a shelter for people with disabilities and seniors who had lost their homes. The man who once slept in a manhole now provides a roof over the heads of those in need.

Alexei doesn't hide his past and isn't ashamed of his scars. He speaks plainly and honestly:

"Train a young man in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." These are very powerful words. If someone had guided me in my youth, perhaps I would be a completely different person. But our enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Trust in the Lord and turn away from evil. Seek first the Kingdom of Heaven—and all else will be added to you. But you must seek it through your deeds."

The story of Alexei Bersenev is not just a personal testimony. It is living proof that the "New Life" Christian mission works not with "cases," but with people. With living, broken, and disheartened people—but not hopeless ones. The mission does not simply feed and provide shelter. It gives people a chance to return—to themselves, to society, to meaning.

Alexei has returned. And now he is the one reaching out to others.