Hamilton man coming home, plans to keep 'doing good' after search for friend's sister on Ukraine border

Warning: This story contains some disturbing details.

A Hamilton man who spent two weeks helping peopleat Poland's border with Ukraine is now in England andon his way back to Canada.

Wyatt Raitt, 22, saidhe's coming home deeply changed by the experience and the many disturbing scenes he witnessed and with a motivation to continue using his life to help people facing crises.

He also hopes he'll hear from his Ukrainian friend Alek, who he hadhoped to meet in Poland, before he leaves Europe altogether April 5.

A friend from Raitt's time at Carleton University in Ottawa, Alek had asked the Canadian to meet him on the Polish border to look after his young sister while he returned to fight the Russian invasion.

He never came across Alek or his sister, but is holding out hope he'll be reached by Alekbefore leavingthe continent, knowing he's out of money and likely won't be able to get back to Poland if word comes too late.

Raitt saidhe spread the word about his search and his contact information to everyone he met in Medyka, the border town where he had hoped the siblings would turn up.

"It stresses me out," he said.

Raitt saidhe has a hard time relating to the life he was leading in Ancaster, Ont., before the trip.

"It just seems so weird to me that a couple months ago, I was working as a part-time plumber It feels like [the trip was] a failure if I can't continue on this path of doing good."

Raitt saidhe'll work out what that looks like after he gets back to Hamilton on April 5, noting he's considering getting involved with a non-governmental organization (NGO) or potentially in party politics.

For now, he's visiting family in England and trying to process his experience, which included three trips into Ukraine. Two of those were to help refugees waiting on the Ukrainian side, many of whom were freezingor tearfully leaving adult male family members required to stay in the country and fight.

'People were freezing'

The third was further into the country, to the western Ukrainian city of Lviv. He joined a group that was making a run there in a truck hoping he might come across Alek. Raitt didn't find his friend, but saidhe saw things there he will never forget including people left dead in their car while trying to escape.

I did a lot of good and helped a lot of people. But just because you help somebody and do good, it doesn't lessen the impact of the terrible things you see and can't change.- Wyatt Raitt, 22

"People were freezing and trying to walk [to the border], and there was nothing we could do to pick them up," he said, noting his vehicle was full. "I realized, 'Wow, we can do very little for these people.'

"I did a lot of good and helped a lot of people," he added. "But just because you help somebody and do good, it doesn't lessen the impact of the terrible things you see and can't change."

He saidlots of help is still needed at Ukraine's borders, noting many people there are like he was able to lend a hand for a few weeks, but without the means to stay permanently.

"Cooking food, getting water, helping guide refugees into heated tents, chopping firewood It's ordinary stuff but it all needs to get done."

He recommendedthat anyone thinking of going try to first align themselves with an NGO for support.

"It helps with the finances and logistics. It is very difficult to go on your own and know no one."

Raitt's family 'very proud of him'

Raitt's parents are looking forward to his return to Hamilton, but just knowing he's in England and a bit farther from the war has provided a good deal of relief, said his dad Stephen.

"We'll be glad to have him home," Stephen told CBC Hamilton on Tuesday. "It's been tough [but] we don't want to be the story here. It's a story about him. It's as remarkableto us as it seems to be to everyone else. We're certainly very proud of him."

Stephen said Wyatt had worked at camps in the past and always had a soft spot for children. He saidhis son had been studying computer science at Carleton before "COVID sent him for a loop with his schooling," and he dropped out, moved home and began taking on odd jobs.

"I think he's sort of found himself a calling at some level, and that's fantastic."