South Yorkshire grandfather pledges to help family of Ukrainian sailor who saved him in Mediterranean
South Yorkshire yachtsman Chris Pearsall, saved by a Ukrainian ship after his boat sunk in the Med, has pledged to help the captain’s family.
Chris was pulled to safety by Ukrainian skipper Yevgeniy Bogdanovic and his crew on the MSC Sheila, after he was stranded in a liferaft miles from land.
Now he has pledged to take Yevgeniy’s family in and help them if they are able to escape the country after the Russian army invaded Ukraine.
Chris was pulled to safety by the crew after sinking on a solo voyage in the Mediterranean Sea.
He said: “I sent him a WhatsApp message to tell him that the UK and much of the world were with the Ukrainian people. His reply was grim.
"He’s on board his ship, currently in Turkey. His wife and two young sons are in Mariupol, a coastal city on the Sea of Azov, hemmed in between the Russian forces coming from Crimea and the occupied territory in eastern Ukraine.
“He sent me a photo of him with his family on New Year. I chuckled at their expressions. The kids holding up wine glasses, proud and serious.
"I sent him a message – if they can get to the Polish border, I will drive out there and bring them back to England.
“But it’s much too late for that. He replied with thanks, but, ‘the city is closed, everywhere Russian troops. Today or tomorrow, they will take the city.’”
Chris, from Barnsley, added: “We all wait to see, but if there is anything that I can do to help, I’ll be there.”
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