Offaly links to Ukrainian man returning to Ireland to flee the war
A woman who managed to track down a Ukrainian man who came to her family home as a child under the International Chernobyl project is appealing for help.
Jennifer Drum who is from Summerhill in Meath said the Knights of St. Columbanus in Tullamore arranged for Yaroslav to come to her parents home in Johnstownbridge.
He returned each year for a number of years until he grew too old to come over, her mother also had an accident and eventually the family lost touch with him.
However, Jennifer and her family never forgot Yaro as they called him, as he felt like a brother to them. ''We loved him,'' said Jennifer.
''All I had was a picture of a letter his dad sent over to thank mam for everything she did.''
Jennifer trawled through social media and she couldn't believe her luck when she found Yaroslav's wife through Instagram.
''He is living in the Rivne district of Ukraine. His village is poor, they kill their own animals for food. I don't think the Russians are bothered with it. He travelled to Kyiv for his work and would leave for two months at a time. But he can't do that now so he has nothing,'' said Jennifer.
''He was going to travel to Poland to work and then return to Ukraine but he didn't want to be a refugee even though he knew he would get a house and be looked after, he wanted to work and earn his own living,'' said Jennifer.
Thanks to her own generosity and that of a few friends Jennifer raised €250 which she sent to him through Western Union. This was enough to help Yaroslav and his wife get out of Ukraine.
He, his wife and three children are now travelling to Poland on Thursday and from there they will fly to Ireland where Jennifer and her husband will collect them at the airport at 12 o'clock next Saturday night.
Jennifer who is also married with three children aged 8, 4 and 6 months is taking the family into her home. ''We had just converted the attic so they will go there. My husband can give Yaroslav work on the farm to keep him occupied.'' added Jennifer.
The last time Jennifer saw Yaroslav he was just 8 he is now 31. ''We are hoping he gets through Poland and we can collect him on Saturday night. We can relax after that. He can't speak a word of English so we will have to use Google translate.''
Jennifer said she is nervous about taking the whole family in but she said it's a good feeling to be able to help.
She has set up a gofundme page to allow people to donate to help Yaroslav to get on his feet. If you type in Jennifer Drum and Yaroslav and family you should be able to get to it. Jennifer set a modest goal of €2,000 and in just one day the fund raised €1,355.