“It is in our nature to want to help. We wanted to help in any way that we could, and this will help those who need it most,” said Orla Christian, mother of Michael Barry (10), from Blarney in Co Cork.
The mother and son pairing have spent the last eight months fundraising to help those in need in Ukraine, with their efforts resulting in the purchasing of a wheelchair accessible vehicle which they hope will be put to use in a children’s home in the east of the country.
The idea to fundraise on behalf of the humanitarian efforts in Ukraine originated from meeting Andrew Laste in January of this year. Mr Laste is a former firefighter from Clonmel, Co Tipperary, who has been volunteering his medical expertise in Ukraine since the outbreak of the war in early 2022.
Upon meeting, Mr Laste and Michael, who has a rare genetic syndrome which sees him use a wheelchair, struck up an instant friendship.
“After meeting Andrew the first time, we gave him leftover medical supplies that Michael didn’t need, and I knew it would go to the places that it needed to go, given his experience as an EMT,” said Ms Christian.
“I have a medical background myself, I was a first responder before my son came along. I wish that if my circumstances were different that I would be over there like Andrew helping out in whatever way I could, even though I’m not as well-trained as him. But I’m zoned in on Michael’s needs and caring for him at the moment.”
After that initial interaction, Ms Christian told The Irish Times that she was inspired to continue helping by whatever means they could, saying: “I told myself that we’d just keep on going. We had donated other stuff previously but I felt that we could give more and do more, so that is where we started from.”
Having raised over €5,000 to purchase the wheelchair accessible vehicle earlier this summer, the vehicle left Dublin Port, arriving in Ukraine on September 1st. It then made its way to a residential care facility in Kharkiv.
“The reason we picked a wheelchair accessible vehicle is obvious because Michael himself is a wheelchair user. Even if it doesn’t end up in a children’s home, maybe it could be used to help transport injured soldiers. Wherever the vehicle ends up though, Andrew will make sure that it gets to where it is desperately needed,” she added.
Michael and his mother’s fundraising efforts have not stopped there though, with Michael taking on a fresh challenge over the coming months. After receiving a new walker, he has set himself the goal of walking as far as he can every day that Andrew is volunteering in Ukraine until he returns to Ireland for Christmas.
“The more Michael walks the better for him it is.” He has just finished over two weeks. His new daily PB is 300m and he has walked over 2.5km in total, Even on the days he didn’t want to walk he got out and did it, so whether its 1m or 10, he’s going to keep it up until Andrew returns from Ukraine,” Orla said.
Michael set a new daily best on Tuesday, walking 265m with the aid of his walker, and hopes to raise another €5,000 which can be used to help purchase medical equipment and other humanitarian supplies to be distributed in Ukraine by Andrew.
The fundraising campaign has been dubbed “Michael Walks for Ukraine”, with daily updates on Michael’s walking progress available on his fundrazr.com page thanks to a pedometer attached to his walker.
Speaking to his efforts, Michael wrote on his updates page: “Some days are going to be hard, but I made a promise to Andrew and my friends in Ukraine ... every day I will do my best for them.”
More information can be found on Michael’s Fundrazr page here