Ukraine to Rosslare: Polina to celebrate eighth birthday in Ireland as father stays behind to fight

Trevor Geraghty from Gorey, Co Wexford with Elizaveta Shyshorina and her children, Oleksandr 15, Kyrylo 13, and Polina 8 from Zaporizhzhia. Picture: Patrick Browne

Polina Shyshorina celebrates her eighth birthday in Ireland this week instead of at home in Ukraine having fled across Europe to avoid the war, helped by a Co Wexford man. 

The child travelled with her mother Elizaveta, brothers Oleksandr, 15, and Kyrylo, 13, after leaving the town of Zaporizhzhia when the Russian army started shelling in eastern Ukraine. The town has since made headlines following a Russian attack on its nuclear power station.

The family made it to a Polish town near the border at the end of last week, hoping to somehow travel onwards to Stirling in Scotland where Elizaveta’s mother has lived for over 15 years with her Scottish husband.

Then in the midst of thousands of refugees and aid workers, Elizaveta spotted a sign on a jeep saying 'Scotland', the only word of English she knew.

The jeep belonged to Trevor Geraghty, originally from Gorey, Co Wexford and now living in Scotland, who had just driven medical aid to the town of Przemyśl, less than 20km from the border with Ukraine.

He told the Irish Examiner how he had stuck up a sign saying he was travelling back to Ireland, Scotland, the UK and would take passengers.

“I’m no adrenaline junkie, I thought if I can help one family to get out [it's worth it]. I’m glad I went,” the tech entrepreneur said.

“The Poles are doing their absolute best, the volume of people is off the scale. Buses are going into Ukraine, seats piled with aid and taking passengers back out. I saw young mums with a couple of kids each, under three, in buggys. That’s not unusual.” 

He said along the roads there is “a sea of humanity” pushing out from Ukraine, and the country is split between normality and chaos with buses and donor groups taking over to help.

“Elizaveta doesn’t speak any English, she recognised one word on my sign 'Scotland'  and she came up to me,” he said.

“She held up her phone and suddenly this little face was in the phone asking me: ‘Scotland, can you look after my grandchildren?’ I said of course.” It turns out Elizaveta’s mother who is the children’s grandmother lives about 16km from his home, he said.

“Elizaveta sent their children to school 10 days ago, then the shelling started, she grabbed their backpacks, got the kids and they ran,” he said Elizaveta had told him as they travelled.

“They don’t know when they will see their father again, he stayed behind to fight. They don’t know when they will see their friends again. I had more bags with me than they have.” 

The family arrived in Rosslare on Monday morning having driven for over two days with communication through Google translate.

“Their granny is on her way now, they are here, they are safe and they are being looked after brilliantly”, he said, adding signs in Gorey shop windows offering support to Ukraine had been hugely uplifting for the family.

They are now staying in a hotel. He has contacted the British embassy in Dublin on their behalf while their grandparents have begun the process of applying to bring them to Scotland as refugees who have family links in Britain under the Ukraine Family Scheme.

“At the moment, they are in a limbo period. I will stay here with them here for as long as it takes,” Mr Geraghy said.

The UK Home Office today said it has  granted 50 visas under this scheme so far despite receiving thousands of applications. The BBC reported this is "about 1% of the 5,535 people who have applied since the programme launched 48 hours earlier."