Fitchburg Man Who Helped Daughter And Grandson Escape Ukraine Returns Home
FITCHBURG (CBS) -- A Fitchburg man who helped his daughter and young grandson escape from Ukraine has returned home. William Hubbard flew to Ukraine several weeks ago to help the two leave the country.
His 19-year-old daughter Aislinn had a home birth due to COVID concerns in the hospital. Ukrainian law requires parents to apply for home birth certificates. For Aislinn's son, Seraphin, that paperwork was being processed when the war started.
They reached out to the state department, US lawmakers, and Ukrainian advocates — who told them it would take two-to-six months to get the documentation. That's time, Hubbard said, they didn't have.
Instead, his daughter, her boyfriend, and their eight-month-old son hiked through the woods to cross into Slovakia, bypassing border patrol. Hubbard said his daughter hiked seven miles with her son in a carrier on her back.
Using phone tracking to follow his daughter's path, Hubbard met them on the other side.
And on Saturday night, Hubbard arrived at Logan Airport.
"I'm so proud of my daughter for the hike to get her son out of Ukraine. That was an incredible feat that her and her boyfriend," Hubbard said.
Hubbard says his daughter and grandson are safe now and are figuring out how they will be able to be reunited with her boyfriend.