THIS mother-of-two from Trafford spent three weeks on the border of Ukraine to aid refugees from the war-torn nation – and she is soon set to return.

Inga Lee was born and raised in Crimea, but she moved to the UK around 15 years ago after she met and married her British husband thanks to a church exchange.

Now in Sale, where she lives on Barkers Lane with her husband and twin daughters, Inga was appalled when Russia annexed Crimea, a move which forced her mother and six of her foster children to flee to Poland.

When the invasion of the rest of the country came around five weeks ago, she decided she needed to take action.

She told The Messenger: "Being Ukrainian, it's awful.

"It was upsetting. I felt I needed to help, so that's why I went," she added, breaking down.

Inga started her three weeks on the border between Poland and Ukraine as a translator, and ended it in a similar role on the border between Romania and Ukraine.

But most of it was spent with a refugee centre in Lublin, a city in the south east of Poland, where she spoke to hundreds of refugees she described as traumatised.

Inga said: "I was going in and talking to them to find out where they come from, where they want to go, and what they want to do.

"Being there and talking to refugees, I learned a lot of upsetting things regarding the war."

Messenger Newspapers:

Among all the upsetting information Inga learned, there also rays of light.

She told the story of a disabled child who needed a wheelchair on arrival.

Inga said: "They pushed him on a little tricycle across the border to get him in to Poland.

"His mother passed away around three years ago and his father stayed behind to fit in the war, so he was left with his grandparents.

"We took this boy to a shop and the director of the shop came in and welcomed us. I said 'Listen, this boy is from Ukraine and we want to get a wheelchair for him.'

"He said 'Actually, I don't want any money, I can find him a wheelchair.' He went around the back and got a wheelchair for him and then he gave it to him for free."

Inga came back to Sale towards the end of March, but she hopes to return to Poland within two weeks.

She said the support of the community, and in particular of the town's St Mary's Church, is incredible.

Inga said: "People were bringing food in and feeding my family. Cleaners were coming in and cleaning the house for free. They were all looking after them."

To support her work, Inga set up a page on GoFundMe which has raised £7,265 at the time of writing.

To contribute, go to gofundme.com/f/help-ukrainians-refugees.

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For more information visit https://donate.redcross.org.uk/appeal/disaster-fund Charity Registration No. Eng/Wales 220949,Scot SC037738, IOM 0752, Jers430.