Gran-of-5 flies to Ukraine to ‘do a little’ for refugees fleeing Russian invasion

Gran Wanda Warrington, 55, who was traveling with Wendy, prepares to travel to the Polish border city of Przemysl after feeling “forced” to help Ukrainians seeking refuge from Vladimir Putin’s invasion

A grandmother who is flying to Poland to help Ukrainians fleeing their war-torn homeland says she is “just doing a little”.

Wanda Warrington, 55, who is traveling with Wendy, will head to Przemysl – a city on the Polish-Ukrainian border that has since been a sanctuary for refugees Russia’s invasion earlier this month.

Wendy – a qualified nurse and midwife – said she felt “compulsory” to participate and help ease the pain of those displaced by Putin’s military, Manchester Evening News report.

The 5-year-old, from Tottington, Greater Manchester, has been off work from the NHS for three weeks and is using her own funds to support herself while 1,300 miles away in Eastern Europe.

“I just wanted to go and do my own thing,” she explained.

“I’m not special. I’m a 55-year-old woman with 3 children and 5 grandchildren.

“I wanted to provide some practical support for what I was trained to do. I just wanted to make a little difference.”

Wendy, who has worked for the NHS for 36 years, has family in Poland and her parents and grandparents were born in the country.

Her grandfather moved to the United Kingdom after surviving the Auschwitz concentration camp.

Wendy is fluent in Polish and has participated in donations for Ukraine at the Polish Social Center in Bury.

During her time in Poland, she will work as a first responder alongside two medical students.

“I was apprehensive but quite excited,” she said.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen or how it’s going to happen but I don’t feel safe.

“My husband made me promise not to cross the border into Ukraine and my eight-year-old niece made me promise to come back.”

Wendy, who is also a faculty member at the University of Chester’s Warrington campus, said her bosses and family supported her decision.

ONE JustGiving page has raised more than £3,000 for medical supplies, which her husband Simon will help transport to Poland with the help of his employer, Segen.

Simon said: “I knew my wife would have to go there.

“What kind of person she is. She’s going into the unknown so I’m really apprehensive.

“I get a little emotional thinking about it but I’m proud of what she’s doing.”