An aspiring Ukrainian footballer has arrived in Bracknell after a harrowing five-day journey to escape the war.
Fleeing the invasion of his homeland by Russian forces, Marko Podoliak, 17, embarked on a terrifying, cross-country escape, with the aid of Bracknell Town FC Chairman and CEO, Kayne Steinborn-Busse.
Marko had already received a two-year sponsorship offer from the football club to join their educational academy, due to start in September, but Steinborn-Busse recognised the urgent need to act.
“At the 11th hour we made the decision that we can’t wait,” said Steinborn-Busse. “He turns 18 in a handful of weeks, he’s a child and shouldn’t be going to war.”
Marko left Ukraine on March 5 alongside his mother and eight-year-old brother and headed for the Moldovan boarder. From there, they travelled to Hungary, then on to Slovakia before finally arriving in Krakow, Poland, on March 7.
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“This is a family that were just going about their business and two weeks later their whole life has been smashed apart,” Steinborn-Busse said.
Marko’s mum helped him board a flight from Krakow to Paris, before heading for Italy to stay with friends. Marko’s father and older brother, 21, remained in Lviv to fight.
Steinborn-Busse drove to Paris to meet Marko on March 7 alongside Ion Braghis, Marko’s uncle who is a UK citizen. Due to the family connections, it was expected that obtaining a family visa would be a formality. However, they were refused entry by UK customs and detained for over four hours.
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“Priti Patel was standing at the dispatch box saying that there is a processing centre in Calais. There was no such thing," said Steinborn-Busse.
"We showed the home office statement to the officers but it didn’t matter, they didn’t care. The computer simply said no.”
Steinborn-Busse then learned that Ireland was accepting 100,000 refugees, who could be processed upon arrival. Marko boarded the 10:30pm flight from Paris to Dublin where he was greeted by a family friend.
The following morning Marko travelled to the visa centre in Dublin where he filled out an application. It was subsequently agreed that he could live with his uncle for a period of six months whilst the application was being processed.
Marko immediately took the train to Belfast before boarding a ferry to Liverpool – docking at 7am on March 9. From here he took a train to Reading where he was reunited with Steinborn-Busse.
Marko will now commence his 2-year sponsorship programme at Bracknell Town FC.
“We just want to give him an opportunity to progress as an athlete and make sure he is learning,” said Steinborn-Busse. “It’s only one person we are helping but if everyone helped one person it would make a big difference.”
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