It seemed like the whole country was stuck in traffic.
When the war broke out last week, the man, who works in England, sprung into action to fetch his wife and children from Ukraine. It took them no less than three days to get to the border.
“It seemed, he said, as if the whole country was in a traffic jam,” said local police officer Jeroen van Aarle, who picked up the man at the gas pump. “After they had left Ukraine, they drove on for three days in a row. They had to a stop because their car broke down.”
Then they spent the night in their car. The man wanted to buy food and drinks at the gas station for his wife and children, aged 7 and 11 and that was when the police were alerted.
Grateful
Neighbourhood officer Jeroen picked up the man on the other side of the highway with his police car and drove him to his family in the De Leysing parking lot. He gave the children a teddy bear from the police and called ANWB about the broken car. The car was towed to a garage in Ysselsteyn in Limburg, but could not be repaired immediately. Parts had to be ordered.
The family was then offered to spend the night in a hotel in Venray. On Friday morning, the Ukrainian family was able to pick up the repaired car in Ysselsteyn and continue their journey to England.
The car parts supplier and the garage owner have paid the costs of the repair. The bill for the stay at the hotel in Venray has been paid by the municipality.
Just perplexed
According to local police officer Jeroen, the family is ‘just perplexed’ because of all the help that was offered. “Because they hadn’t actually asked for anything. One of the children picked some beautiful leaves and gave them to the rescuers as a thank you.”
The whole event did not leave Jeroen untouched. “When you experience such a harrowing story, you start to wonder how you would feel if you ended up in a situation like these people from Ukraine. This really does something to you.”
Source: Omroep Brabant
Translated by: Beena Arunraj
