A COUNTY Durham driving instructor that travelled thousands of miles to rescue his girlfriend and two of her children from war-torn Ukraine has documented how he “didn’t give a damn” about his safety and made the journey in the name of love.
Mike Farrell, 60, from Leadgate, near Consett, made the journey from the North East at the start of the month to rescue his girlfriend, Svetlana Yanyk, 45, her son, Illia 12, and daughter, Sofiia, 11, from their home in Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine.
During seven days between Saturday, March 12 and Saturday, March 19, Mr Farrell drove 3400 miles across several borders in his trusty Suzuki Swift, which he usually teaches his pupils in.
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The couple originally met 18 months ago after the driving instructor stopped in Ukraine during a trip across Europe.
However, his most recent gesture during their 18-month relationship has gone down as the most romantic after he threw caution to the wind and made the journey to Eastern Europe – calling it a “no brainer”.
Despite the potential for danger when travelling towards the conflict zone, Mr Farrell has revealed that he never felt nervous once, even when hearing air raid sirens, passing roadblocks and seeing soldiers on the road.
He said: “When everything started to ramp up with the Russian invasion – I said to Svetlana that she must get out of the country, but she didn’t want to leave one of her elder sons and her mother.
“Eventually, she was convinced to leave and that was that. I told my pupils that there’d be no lessons for the next seven days and off I went.
“Do you know something? I’ve lived my life and I don’t give a damn – I just wanted to travel towards the woman that I love.”
On his travels to rescuing Svetlana, Mr Farrell travelled on ferries, before spending two days in Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine, where he saw first-hand the impact of the war in Ukraine and what it was doing to people in the country.
Despite successfully navigating his way to Ukraine and back via the Polish border and back towards the Netherlands, it wasn’t to be a fairy-tale ending for the happy couple.
While trying to board a ferry from the Netherlands back to Newcastle, UK authorities blocked Svetlana and her two children from travelling – telling them that they didn’t have the correct documents.
They remain stuck in a hotel in Netherlands – waiting for clearance to join Mr Farrell in Leadgate – despite having parts of their applications approved by the UK government.
Mr Farrell added: “We just expected to go straight through the border in truth. There was little reason why they’d stop us, and I believed that the government would allow it.
“We’ve now faced more than seven days of waiting and I just want them over here.
“I want to diss the government, but I just want it resolved.
“While over in Ukraine, it was an emotional journey and one that was a scary experience for all of us. There were air raid sirens going off, and when we were going through Poland, a car backfired, and Svetlana’s daughter was petrified.”
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