Carlow student 'overwhelmed' to be back on Irish soil after fleeing Ukraine
Racheal's family welcome her home. Picture: Christiana Diyaolu/Twitter
An Irish student, whose story captured the attention of the nation, has landed safely in Ireland after fleeing Ukraine.
Racheal Diyaolu, 19, flew in from Frankfurt on Thursday night following an arduous journey from Sumy in eastern Ukraine.
The Carlow student said she was overwhelmed and happy to be back on Irish soil.
Racheal had been studying medicine in the war-torn country and had moved there late last year.
She said being there had been "scary" given the circumstances, adding: "I didn't know when I'd get to be home, so I'm really happy to be back."
Describing the escape, she told RTÉ: "It was a very anxious journey. We had a lot of really bad roads, things went wrong along the way, but we stayed positive and knew that once we were out of Sumy it was [the] home strait. We knew we just had to go a little bit further and we'd be back home soon."
Her escape, with two other students and a family, was aided by two Scottish volunteers who had been assisting people in Ukraine.
The men, Joe McCarthy and Gary Taylor, have shared their journey on social media, with Mr McCarthy posting at one point about a dangerous interaction with Russian soldiers.
“We were shot at, our tyres were shot at,” he said. “My phone was stolen.”
Racheal said the pair were "God sends" and that he looked after their every need.
The journey saw them travel for three days across Ukraine before they entered the EU through Romania on Wednesday.
Racheal's father said at Dublin Airport that he was very proud of his daughter for how resilient and positive she is.
Her mother, Yemmy, added: "I'm happy to see her alive, that's the main thing."
Racheal's sister, Christiana, had been documenting events on social media, bringing awareness of her sister's attempts to escape.
"I'm her big sister. I had to do what big sisters do and look after my little sister so I did my best to try to advocate for her, and now she's back home. I'm so grateful for everyone's help to bring her here," Christiana told RTÉ.
Christiana added that Racheal's safe return meant her family was now at peace.
"After 15 sleepless nights and buckets of tears, my family and I are at peace knowing she’s home and safe," she wrote on social media.
"A sincere thank you to everyone for all the love, prayers and support shown to us. Words cannot describe how grateful we are."
She also praised volunteers Joe and Gary as "our brave heroes" adding that her family will be singing their praises until the end of time. Christiana added her thanks to the Department of Foreign Affairs for helping once Racheal got to the border.
Addressing the GoFundMe that was set up to help with Racheal's escape, Christiana said an update regrading the allocation of the funds would be issued later on Friday.
Meanwhile, the minister for higher education has said that students like Racheal will be facilitated to continue studying in Ireland.
Simon Harris said: "Irish students forced to leave #Ukraine will be facilitated to continue their studies in Ireland. My department is making contact with all students involved and we will work tirelessly to support them."
Last week, Racheal told the that being in Ukraine during a war feels like “an out of body experience”.
"I try not to think about the fact that I am in the country that is going through war at this moment just because it does take a toll if you think about it a bit too much," she said.
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