Tipperary men bring aid to Ukraine with one staying to volunteer and help get his father-in-law to Ireland

Andrew Laste and Anthony Broxson pictured at the van full of medical aid before departing Clonmel for the Ukraine last week

A courageous Clonmel man, who delivered a van load of medical supplies to Ukraine on Sunday, is staying on in Lviv city to work as a humanitarian volunteer.
Andrew Laste, whose wife Elena is from Ukraine, is offering his experience and skills as a former fire fighter with Tipperary Fire Service and emergency medical technician to the humanitarian effort in the country under siege from the invading Russian army.
During his stay in Ukraine, he will also be on a mission to progress efforts to get his father-in-law, living in Luhansk in the eastern Donbas region, out of Ukraine and reunite him with his daughter in Ireland.
Mr Laste is managing director of Emergency Medical Training Solutions (EMTS), based at Ard Gaoithe Business Park in Clonmel. The company offers a range of training courses in first aid emergency first response and health & safety and also sells medical supplies.
His wife Elena, who is a director of EMTS, said she is very worried for her 57-year-old father Victor, whose health isn’t good after contracting Covid-19 a few months ago.
She visited her father last November when he was sick and has been in contact with him by phone since war broke out.
“He is at this moment in Luhansk. Russia took this place eight years ago and at the moment it is quiet but it can change at any minute,” she explained.
Elena, who is in Ireland around eight years, is also fearful for Andrew’s safety in her homeland. While Lviv, located in western Ukraine is currently not under siege from the Russians, that situation could change any day.
“It’s not a safe place to go, even Lviv. I am so worried but he (Andrew) is always very brave.”
Andrew, who is son of John and Susan Laste from Thorny Bridge, Clonmel and formerly of Griffith Avenue, Clonmel, arrived in Lviv on Sunday with fellow Stand with Ukraine – Co. Tipperary volunteer Anthony Broxson from Ballyrichard, Carrick-on-Suir.
The two men transported an Opel Movano van loaded with medical supplies collected through Andrew’s business contacts and public donations to the Stand with Ukraine – Co. Tipperary appeal set up in the wake of the outbreak of the war.
They departed county Tipperary last Thursday evening, taking the ferry from Rosslare to Cherbourg in France, then driving across Europe and entering Ukraine via Poland on Sunday.
Andrew and Anthony have been keeping people back home up to date on their trip by posting regular vlogs on Andrew’s Tik Tok account: @legolaste84.
In vlogs posted over the weekend, Andrew reported they were delivering the supplies to a Ukrainian doctor in Lviv and had also made contact with a paediatric cardiologist, who was going to be actively involved in using the supplies to help children.
When they reached Lviv he spoke of how life was going on as normal with traffic and people on the streets while the weather was cold but gorgeous.
Both he and Anthony assured followers of their Tik Tok vlogs that they were keeping themselves safe and not going to do anything foolis. And hey thanked everyone back home for their generous donations.
Speaking to The Nationalist before departing Clonmel last Thursday, Andrew said he would be staying in Ukraine to ensure the medical supplies they have brought out get to the right place and to establish contacts and a supply base where future trucks and vans full of aid donations can go.
But he was also staying on to volunteer his skills to the humanitarian effort including making contact with the local fire service.
“I am staying on to help. I was previously a fire fighter for 10 years in Clonmel and I now run EMTS. I want to do what I can with my skills. I will see where I am needed, where I can make a positive impact. If people require me to provide medical treatment, I will do it. If they want me to make food, I will do that.”
He would love to bring his father-in-law home with him to Ireland but Victor is located at the other side of the country just one hour from the Russian border.
According to Andrew, he is not capable of leaving by himself at the moment due to his poor health. Andrew is hoping to find a way, possibly through diplomatic channels, of getting him safely out of the country.
Andrew and Elena are overwhelmed with the generosity people have shown towards the Stand with Ukraine – Co. Tipperary aid appeal.
“It’s very nice that people can help my country,” said Elena. “It’s very important because at this moment the Ukrainian people have a very difficult situation. They are losing everything. They are losing their family, jobs, housing. They can’t get help.”
Andrew said: “To see what is happening at the moment is absolutely heartbreaking. I just want to thank everybody who has been part of anything to do with collecting aid and volunteering their time to help not only us but other community groups that gather supplies.”
Andrew’s companion on the aid mission to Lviv, Anthony Broxson, a commercial bee keeper, is also bowled over with the public’s generosity.
After Andrew contacted him about his plan to drive over the medical suppplies to Ukraine, Anthony issued an appeal on social media for a van.
Declan Norris of Hillside Motors in Piltown, county Kilkenny stepped up and gave them the use of the Opel Movana they transported the aid in across Europe.
Anthony said they also received more than enough financial donations to cover the cost of transporting the aid to Ukraine.
One example of this great generosity was a donation of €910 from the students of St Mary’s CBS Greenschool in Carrick-on-Suir, who presented Anthony with the money they raised for the cause last Wednesday, the day before he left for Ukraine.
After delivering their initial load of medical supplies, Anthony and Andrew went back into Poland and purchased more food and medical supplies with whatever donation money was left over and made another drop off in Ukraine.
After this second delivery Anthony will return home to Ireland.
The van of medical supplies Andrew and Anthony drove to Ukraine was one of several Stand with Ukraine – Co. Tipperary humanitarian aid consignments that left Ireland over the past week.
Martins Punculis, one of Stand with Ukraine - Co. Tipperary’s founders and co-ordinators, reported that two lorries filled with 52 pallets of food, hygiene products and clothes were driven by professional hauliers to aid distribution centres in Poland last week. Another van filled with donated fire fighting equipment left last Saturday.
He said Stand with Ukraine – Co. Tipperary is currently working to collect and send out more vans full of humanitarian aid and is looking for donations of fire fighting and medical equipment.
For further information on making a donation log onto the Stand with Ukraine – Co. Tipperary Facebook page. You can follow Andrew Laste’s and Anthony Broxson’s vlogs about their aid mission to Ukraine on the Tik Tok account: @legolaste84.