STUART, Fla. — People in Ukraine continue to fight for their freedom and one Stuart man has made it his mission to help women and children trying to escape the danger.
Andy Roman, 22, has put his life on the line driving into Ukraine, picking up refugees and bringing them to Poland through his nonprofit organization UkrainianPeace.org.
Now thanks to the Martin County Sheriff's Office, his team will have body armor to help keep them safe.
"I couldn't even articulate in English what to say to somebody when they tell you that they saw their family killed and that their house is destroyed and that they are the last person alive from their family and their entire life is in a suitcase. Like it's just horrible, just devastating," said Roman. "Honestly I feel guilty that I'm not still there 'cause when I left they were the guys my team were going to be in imminent danger. Yeah and I knew that I was coming home to raise money but I can't get over the feeling that I should still be there."
Roman has family in Ukraine and spent 3 weeks in Europe bringing supplies into Ukraine and refugees back to Poland with a sprinter van, which is a minibus that seats 10-12 people.
He was part of a convoy of 3 trucks with the help of local humanitarians.
"Both the cities that I was staying in were bombed shortly after I left. The danger, it's - it's hard to say because Putin is a madman you never know what he's going to do next he could carpet bomb a city it hasn't been affected yet so nobody is safe until they're outside of the country," Roman said.
Roman said in the three weeks he was there, the team rescued some 130 Ukrainians.
Now the Martin County Sheriff's Office is stepping in to help by donating 5 soft body armor vests and some 100 rifle plates.
"Anybody who has the nerve to get into a car and drive into some of these besieged cities and get refugees out is is a true hero," said Martin County Sheriff William Snyder. " The greater good and the greater help is coming from these heroes here in Martin County they're risking their lives to go and rescue people that they've never met."
The soft body armor is built to withstand small ammunition fire and shrapnel, but they’re also fitted with rifle plates to help with high velocity rounds”
"Vans were coming to our church with bullet holes in them in broken windows and those guys weren't protected at all and so even if it is only a level two vest and it's only meant to stop small arms fire it's going to make a world of difference for the drivers," said Roman.
MCSO also donated over 30 jackets to help with the winter weather in Ukraine.
All of the equipment donated was gear MCSO had already retired.
"Hopefully the war will end soon and we can switch into rebuild mode and start with the second half of our mission. I pray every night, I pray that it just ends the next day," said Roman.
Roman plans to fly back to Ukraine with the equipment on April 2.
You can help by visiting:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-for-ukraine-via-andy-roman-in-ukraine
