Diabetic Weronica, 7, gets vital insulin thanks to YOU
TRAPPED in Ukraine and with her vital supply of insulin almost exhausted, diabetic seven-year-old Weronica was in danger of falling seriously ill.
Thankfully, help was at hand from the Red Cross, whose work is partly funded by donations from generous Mail on Sunday readers.
Red Cross medics in Poland arranged for emergency vials of insulin to be delivered to Weronica, who was 170 miles away in the town of Dubno, and for a prescription that will provide her with a twomonth supply of the drug.
‘She is so happy. She is so grateful for the help,’ said family friend Tatiana, 39, who appealed for assistance when she arrived at Przemysl train station in Poland, having left Weronica and her distraught mother behind in Dubno.
It took Tatiana two days to reach Poland, travelling by car, foot and train. She arrived at the border with two of her sons and her husband, a priest, who returned to Dubno with the insulin.
‘My own children are safe now, so I must do all I can to help Weronica,’ Tatiana said.
‘My husband has taken the medications back to Ukraine. As a priest, he feels it is his duty to stand by the people of Ukraine.’
The record-breaking Mail Force Appeal has given the Red Cross £500,000 to support its efforts to get food, water, medicine and other essentials to those affected by the conflict. Readers have inundated the appeal with more than 70,000 cheques and a flood of online donations since it was launched five weeks ago. The total raised has reached a staggering £10.4million.
The appeal was kick-started with a £500,000 donation from The Mail on Sunday and Daily Mail parent company, DMGT, at the personal request of chairman Lord Rothermere and his wife Lady Rothermere.
Like many of the four million refugees who have fled Ukraine, Tatiana described the terror of missile strikes. ‘We saw our neighbourhood bombarded. We were terrified. Especially the children. They saw missiles dropping from the sky.
‘We knew we had to go straight to the basement, but the children just froze. As soon as there was an opportunity to leave, we packed what we could carry and we ran.’
Mother-of-three Grazyna arrived at Przemysl with her 18-year-old son Marian on the same day as Tatiana. Marian is a student at the Krakow University of Technology in Poland but was trapped in Ukraine because he was visiting his mother when the fighting started.
He was twice refused permission to leave the country but was finally allowed to flee with Grazyna after Ukrainian authorities announced that those studying abroad could return to their studies.
‘I have never been so happy,’ Grazyna said. ‘I have two older daughters already studying in Poland so I know as soon as my son joins them they will be safe.’
‘She is so happy, and so grateful for the help’