A Ukrainian mum who fled her war-torn country for a new life in Scotland has been delayed on her journey after her three-year-old son was admitted to intensive care with chronic health issues.
Nadia Kolomoiets, 39, and her son, Vladimir, three, were taking shelter in a basement in the city of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk Oblast region during the Russian invasion when Nadia met Rita, a doctor from Leith in Edinburgh, via a Facebook group.
The 32-year-old offered to host the family if they managed to escape, which they did, making their way to Poland in early April to figure out their next steps.
But tragically, Vladimir took unwell upon arrival in the country and was admitted to hospital where he underwent surgery for hydronephrosis, a condition where one or both kidneys swell as the result of a build-up of urine inside them.
Mum Nadia, is now struggling to cope with the second devastating blow to her life after Vladimir's father, Mikhail, was killed early on in the war.
His son still doesn't know he's dead.
Rita, told the Record: "Being in hospital in Warsaw was a mission for the family. Poland have got a public health system but you have to be registered so they were able to get basic pain relief but nothing more than that.
"Nadia had to bare the brunt of the costs. She had to find herself a part time cleaning job to make ends meet.
"It's been a really hellish journey. Nadia's husband got killed early on. They were in the Eastern region which is now controlled by Russian forces.
"Vladimir doesn't know his dad is dead. We'll get the medical stuff out the way then we'll deal with that."
The tot was able to be discharged from hospital but was told by doctors that he was too high risk to fly, so the family decided to make their onward journey to Scotland via Germany by land/sea.
In Cologne, however, Vladimir took a turn for the worse, and was rushed to ICU where doctors concluded the surgery in Poland was botched.
He was extremely unwell and underwent a second procedure due to blood clots in his urinary tract.
Rita continued: "In Cologne, Nadia's been sleeping and showering in the hospital. She's being paid the equivalent of £15 for a day's work looking after an elderly lady. It's not much but it's better than nothing.
Nadia's been keeping it together until this last stretch in Germany where a couple of times the hospital has had to give her sedatives to calm her down.
Although Vladimir has now been moved down to a general ward after a two-week stint in ICU, medics have confirmed he has an ectopic ureter and will require more surgery to completely replace one section of his bladder.
He also still has a catheter in and cannot pee on his own.
As the surgery is more complex, Nadia is required to pay £6,000, 90 per cent of which a charitable organisation, PartnerAid UK, have pledged to cover the cost of.
Once the further ten per cent is raised and Vladimir has received surgery, Rita has arranged for a friend to transport the pair out of Germany, to the UK border and on to Edinburgh where they will meet for the first time.
Rita added: "Vladimir's happier now because he's allowed to watch TV in the general ward.
"He's been enjoying cartoons and I send Nadia videos of my dogs which he really likes.
"If he's well enough to come all the way to Edinburgh in one go, they'll do that. If he still needs to be in hospital, they'll go to the first hospital after Dover and get him sorted before travelling north."
A GoFundMe page has now been set up to help the family with the remaining surgery costs.
So far, it has reached £225 of the £1,000 goal.
If you would like to donate to Vladimir's fundraiser, click here.
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