A Dublin woman has spoken of her family's week of terror after her pregnant stepsister and her eight-year-old son were stuck in war-torn Ukraine.
Jade Dunne told Dublin Live that Kristina, 30, who is eight months pregnant, and Artem, were finally reunited with the rest of their family in Ireland last night after a long, treacherous journey spanning three countries.
The Ukrainian family of four which included Kristina's husband, Ruslan, eight-year-old son, Artem, and grandmother, Oksana, had been trying to leave for the last two weeks but couldn't due to visa issues.
She said: "Sadly, Kristina’s grandmother is quite elderly so she wasn’t able to leave. They had to leave her behind last Thursday. The three of them got in the car to make their way in the border."
On their way to the border, the family had to go into hiding underground after bombs were dropped from the invading Russian forces.
At this time Kristina took ill and had to be rushed to a nearby hospital.
Swords woman Jade said: "Unfortunately when they were in hospital they got a warning that the lights needed to be turned off. So this sent her into a lot of distress."
Jade said Kristina would send them updates through Viber whenever she could but there were a few hours the family couldn't get a hold of her.
"We didn’t know if she was okay, if she was safe or not.
"She got into the hospital and then we had a quick phone call and that was it. We were worried and wondering if she was injured."
Finally, the trio managed to get to the Slovakian border after a few days.
But Kristina and Artem had to say another heartbreaking goodbye to Ruslan who stayed back to fight as Ukraine recently passed a law banning men from the ages of 18 to 60 from leaving the country.
Kristina and little Artem were placed into refugee camps in Slovakia where she was given medical attention for her PTSD.
Jade's dad, who had only just come out of hospital following a life-threatening battle, immediately started searching for flights to Poland with her step-mum.
She added: "A lot of flights were sold out but eventually we got flights booked for my dad and step-mum. They left Dublin on Sunday morning and went to Poland.
"At this stage, Kristina was still in Slovakia. She wasn’t able to leave there. It was only on Monday night that they were reunited with Kristina and Artem."
And finally, on Tuesday night, the family breathed a sigh of relief as they went up the steps to a plane bound for Dublin Airport.
Jade said the whole ordeal has left both Kristina and Artem devastated and traumatised.
She said: "Artem, especially, is distressed. He had to leave his daddy and his granny.
"He’s asking a lot of questions. He’s terrified when he hears airplanes. The two of them will need a lot of emotional and mental support."
Kristina and Artem left their hometown of Ternopil with just a blanket and the clothes on their backs.
But when they arrived they were inundated with a number of gifts and essentials donated by big-hearted Irish people.
Jade said she was overwhelmed with people reaching out to help after seeing Kristina's plight on social media.
She added: "Artem said he wants to share his things with his friends in Ukraine, bless him.
"The Cute Luxe Boutique in Swords has put out an appeal for donations and Rebecca Kelly from Everywhere We Go podcast has been amazing getting the word around.
"My dad said people dropped in clothes for them and other stuff they’ll need urgently."
Jade said Kristina was also heartened by the kindness of the people in Poland.
"They are helping. They’re driving hours upon hours to help all these people. It’s just unfortunate not everyone can come to Ireland."
Jade said her family is trying to help other Ukrainians fleeing the devastation.
She said: "What we’re hoping to do is help as many others in Ukraine as we can because my dad has contacts in Poland.
"We’re trying get as many people to Ireland as we can and it's not just our family that we want to help. We want to help others as well.
"My dad’s got an insight into how bad their lives are and even though he’s got Kristina and Artem, he wants to help the people who aren’t as fortunate."
Jade said the family received confirmation that Oksana, who is in her 80s, is hiding in a basement with a family.
She added: "People who haven’t directly been affected have been looking at the news but they can switch it off while we’ve been living on edge since last week not knowing if Kristina and her family were going to make it through. "
If you want to help Jade in her cause you can donate here.
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