Young Mother With Baby Hikes Out Of Ukraine To Safety With Help From Fitchburg Father
FITCHBURG (CBS) -- A Fitchburg man is relieved that his daughter and young grandson are now safe after being stuck in Ukraine. William Hubbard told WBZ-TV he flew to Ukraine to help them about three weeks ago.
"I am doing great now that I am safe and my daughter is safe and my grandson is safe," said Hubbard.
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.
Ukrainian border patrol would not let Seraphin leave the country without it.
"We weren't going to wait any longer for some mysterious solution to come from some government authority. If it hadn't happened in two weeks, the chances that it was going to happen in the next week or two weeks or three weeks were really slim," said Hubbard.
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.
"We hatched a plan and we said OK, we need to find a location where we can get across the border," Hubbard said.
The plan required his daughter, her boyfriend, and their eight-month-old son to hike 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.
"Let me tell you, I was so proud of my daughter. I couldn't believe it."
Slovakian police gave the family temporary travel documents allowing them to travel within the European Union. They are set to take a DNA test that will get the child full documentation.
This journey has cost the family thousands of dollars. Hubbard set up GoFundMe for his daughter called "American Mother Trapped in Ukraine" to try to help cover some of the costs.
Now that his daughter and grandson are safe, Hubbard said he will head home to Fitchburg soon.