'We fled Ukraine for our kids' safety - but our disabled son was forced to stay'
ok.co.ukIt’s the unthinkable dilemma no parent wants to face. Leave your wartorn country to keep one child safe, or stay together in your homeland - risking every life - to be with the child who is forced to stay and fight.This ‘Sophie’s Choice’-style nightmare became the harsh reality for one Ukrainian family.
Oksana Voloshchuk, 40, is the loving mum of two children - son Denys, 19, and daughter Veronika, 15. She is married to a Yakiv Voloshchuk, 60, who is a British citizen of Ukrainian heritage and a former London bus driver.
Both her children have type 1 diabetes. Her son Denys also wears hearing aids. When the war broke out, like all Ukrainian people, the family were terrified.
Yakiv, who is currently living in the UK, drove to the border to pick up Oksana, Veronika and Denys on 26 February. As their son has type 1 diabetes, and also suffers with hearing difficulties, they thought he would be exempt from serving in the war. "I thought we would be allowed out of the country because he is technically not eligible to serve in the armed forces," explains Oksana. "Yet when we approached border control, they wouldn't let him pass out of the country," she continues. "I had such a dilemma.
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