‘It’s worse than you see’: Minnesotan desperate to rescue elderly parents from Ukraine
By Kate Raddatz
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MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Lena Bly has been glued to her television, trying to find out what’s happening outside her family’s home more than 5,000 miles away.
“It’s worse than you see,” Bly said.
She grew up in Ukraine, but moved to the Twin Cities more than 15 years ago when she got married. Her parents still live in Kharkiv.
“My mom, she cannot walk,” she said.
Bly’s mother, who she preferred not to show photos of for her safety, was in the hospital for a surgery in Kharkiv when the bombings started in Ukraine.
The hospital was evacuated when her mother was still recovering, unable to walk. Now Bly’s elderly parents have been hiding in their basement.
“My biggest concern is they’re there by themselves, two people in their 80s, and they don’t have anyone to come and get them,” she said.
Bly has been talking to her parents every day, who are hearing bombs outside but don’t have any internet or television to know what’s going on. The heat stopped working, and they have no way to get food.
Bly is desperately trying to find a way to get them out of the country to safety. She’s trying to give her parents hope.
“I said, ‘I’ll get you out! I’ll get you out!’” she said. “I don’t know how I can do this, I feel very hopeless.”
Bly’s friends are trying to raise funds to give to the family toward their cause.
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