Debra Richardson reconnected with Yuri, whom she briefly cared for in the ’90s, two years ago.“Can you tell the world to protect us from the skies?” was the Ukrainian man’s plea.Debra Richardson goes about her days waiting for her phone to ping. Morning to night, in between shopping and work, she constantly checks for a message from Ukraine.
A heavily pregnant Ms Richardson, then a Victorian police officer, offered for her young family to host a child. That child arrived at Melbourne Airport one night in September 1993.“We still didn’t know which child we were getting, or how old they were, or anything about them,” she remembers. “We went to the Police Academy this particular night and all of a sudden, we were told: ‘You’ve got Yuri and he’s 11 years old. Here you go, and we’ll be in touch.
“I sent hundreds of messages to everyone with the same name as Yuri saying, ‘I’m your foster mum from Australia’, and of course heard nothing,” she says. “And then, about two years ago, I finally get this message from Yuri saying, ‘Yes, it’s me, Debra, my Australian mum.’ ” For his protection, Ms Richardson doesn’t want Yuri’s surname or a current photo of him published. After staying in a bunker in Kyiv for a number of days, his wife and son have left for the border while Yuri is required to stay behind to help the war effort as bombing and shelling continues.
Another Stolen Generation?
In mid-1993, children from Chernobyl also stayed with families in Ireland. My daughter was about the same age as the group we met there while also visiting.
look at my naked photos
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