Kansas woman has helped more than two dozen at-risk refugees escape Ukraine
By Alan Shope
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OLATHE, Kansas (KMBC) — There are several groups around the world trying to help more than one million Ukrainians trying to flee the Russian invasion of their country. One Olathe, Kansas woman has helped get more than two dozen at-risk refugees to escape the country.
“It’s just devastating. It’s very personal,” Lidiya Gettya said.
Gettya was born in Ukraine and still has friends and family there. When the war broke out, she says she was terrified.
“It’s extremely painful. It’s unbelievable. It tears me apart,” Gettya said.
After talking to friends in Ukraine, she was told that the elderly and disabled were having difficulty getting out.
“Imagine somebody who has a heart condition, somebody who has just had chemo,” Gettya said.
She immediately got to work calling, joining Facebook pages and finding drivers she could use to assist people having difficulties getting out of the country.
Gettya says she couldn’t imagine not doing everything she could to help.
One evacuated mother, Nika Malyshev, found out about Gettya’s Facebook group from a friend. She asked for her help getting her elderly mother across the border. Gettya quickly found support and got her to Romania.
“I owe her my mom’s life because, without her, I probably wouldn’t be able to see her again,” Malyshev said.
Malyshev says there’s no way to explain how happy she is that her mother is now in Romania. She says the next step, hopefully, is to get her to Kansas City.
So far, Gettya has helped more than 30 people get to the border to escape the war.
“We have helped a couple of people who are in a wheelchair and needed a special access car. We’re doing what we can,” Gettya said.
The group has a GoFundMe page to raise money to pay drivers. So far, it has collected nearly $ 7,500.
Gettya isn’t the only person near the KC metro helping out Ukrainian refugees.
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