WISCONSIN (NBC 26) — A Wisconsin man is now back home after spending a few weeks volunteering in Ukraine and Poland.
When Chase Hein first heard about the Russia-Ukraine invasion he immediately asked how he could help.
"I have extended family who are Ukrainians and a lot of friends who are Ukrainians,” Hein said.
With a strong connection to the country, he took time off from work and decided to become a volunteer with the city of Chelm, a town near the Poland-Ukraine border.
"I was personally asked to drive people back into Ukraine. Women that would want to go back and either attend to a sick mother and leave their kids with family or they wanted to fight with their husbands and didn't want to leave them behind,” Hein said.
Hein went back and forth from Poland to Ukraine several times.
"Every time I saw kids there, especially the ones who were without parents or were missing parents, that was hard. It took every ounce of strength and every bit of will power to not cry,” Hein said.
He not only helped with the transportation of Ukrainians, but also helped them get food and basic necessities.
"There's many different possibilities that run through your mind, it's like what if Russians come and arrest us for trying to help,” Hein said. “You'd see there was some humanitarian vehicles that were coming back with bullet holes on the side.”
And during his time on the Polish border, Hein developed a friendship with a 17-year-old Ukrainian refugee named Roman who reminded him of his son.
"This was our last day together. We were at the train station in Chelm and it's one of the few photos I actually have,” Hein said as he pointed at the photo of the two.
He said Roman worked as a translator on the Polish border and he'd work day in and day out to help out in any way possible.
“It's crazy how he lost so much. His mom actually ended going back to Ukraine and he's staying with his aunt in Poland. I couldn't even imagine my kids going through that,” Hein said.
After making such a strong connection with Roman, he said he felt compelled to sponsor his VISA and hopefully have him live with him in Wisconsin.
