Liudmilya Samokhvalova holds her son Mark upright on a sunny porch in Omaha. The 10-year-old is nonverbal and has dystonia – he cannot walk. The serenity around them starkly contrasts with the world they escaped only months ago.”You feel every second that they can bomb your house,” said Samokhvalova, a Ukrainian native and mother of two. Samohvalova would carry Mark down the stairs to the bomb shelter when the sirens sounded. His 6-year-old sister Yeva was close behind.”Sometimes I feel like I want to scream. It was so difficult,” Samokhvalova said. “It’s difficult to lift Mark all the time.”Weeks into the war, the young mother lifted Mark again, headed for the Polish border, not the basement. “I have not a choice,” Samokhvalova said. “I just have not a choice.”They left Poltava, a city between Kyiv and Kharkiv with Samokhvalova’s aging parents. But a different danger followed them.” has epilepsy,” Samokhvalova said. “And I have no medicine. If something happened, it was a big risk.”A risk she felt obligated to take. They took what they could carry, strapped Mark’s stroller to the roof of the car and drove for five days, with Mark lying across the backseat.”Just scared for not even you, for kids,” Samokhvalova said.They spent months in Poland, wondering when, and if, they’d return home.”I can’t find any words to describe how difficult it was,” said Samokhvalova’s mother, Tamara. The family dared to hope that they might find a new home, at least for now, in America. “I still don’t believe I’m here, it’s still shock,” Samokhvalova said.One Omaha man made the journey possible.”It’s amazing step, what he did to us,” a tearful Samokhvalova said.While Andrew DeFonzo is away on business, his Millard house is usually empty. Now, however, it is a refuge filled with toys and medicine.”It worked out perfectly so they could come over to the house, stay there, get some much-needed comfort and sense of safety,” DeFonzo said. DeFonzo met Samokhvalova online while working abroad a few years ago. They didn’t meet in person until the family stepped foot on U.S. soil.”When this came along the stars just kind of aligned,” said DeFonzo, who is serving as the family’s sponsor — anyone coming to the U.S. under the Biden administration’s ‘Uniting for Ukraine’ program needs one. “It’s a much bigger thing than just getting them over here and finding a place to live for them.”After check-ups at Children’s, where he got a customized wheelchair, Mark is healthy and Yeva’s happy, showing KETV NewsWatch 7 her new toys, and the stuffed animal she brought from home. They hope to enroll her at school in the fall, and she is already picking up some English. Samokhvalova said Mark was welcomed with open arms, a welcome change from the stigma they often encountered back home.”People react differently on disabled kids,” said Samokhvalova.She has even heard of some people abandoning their kids with disabilities as they flee.”How difficult it will be for me to travel and how difficult it will be, I will never, never ever do this to my child,” Samokhvalova said.With DeFonzo’s help, they can live here for two years. Samokhvalova’s mother wants to return to a victorious Ukraine. This is the first time she’s ever left. Samokhvalova wants to help her country win the war but sees her family’s future blossoming here. “I think for my kids right now, better stay here,” Samokhvalova said.DeFonzo said they have applied for work permits. Ukraine’s national flower flourishes in the garden, as this family plants new roots and prays for peace.”You get up and you see a new day, you see sun and I want to tell people, I want they don’t forget this, that they have this,” Samokhvalova said.DeFonzo has organized a GoFundMe for the Samokhvalova family. Click here to donate.
Liudmilya Samokhvalova holds her son Mark upright on a sunny porch in Omaha. The 10-year-old is nonverbal and has dystonia – he cannot walk. The serenity around them starkly contrasts with the world they escaped only months ago.
“You feel every second that they can bomb your house,” said Samokhvalova, a Ukrainian native and mother of two.
Samohvalova would carry Mark down the stairs to the bomb shelter when the sirens sounded. His 6-year-old sister Yeva was close behind.
“Sometimes I feel like I want to scream. It was so difficult,” Samokhvalova said. “It’s difficult to lift Mark all the time.”
Weeks into the war, the young mother lifted Mark again, headed for the Polish border, not the basement.
“I have not a choice,” Samokhvalova said. “I just have not a choice.”
They left Poltava, a city between Kyiv and Kharkiv with Samokhvalova’s aging parents. But a different danger followed them.
“[Mark] has epilepsy,” Samokhvalova said. “And I have no medicine. If something happened, it was a big risk.”
A risk she felt obligated to take.
They took what they could carry, strapped Mark’s stroller to the roof of the car and drove for five days, with Mark lying across the backseat.
“Just scared for not even you, for kids,” Samokhvalova said.
They spent months in Poland, wondering when, and if, they’d return home.
“I can’t find any words to describe how difficult it was,” said Samokhvalova’s mother, Tamara.
The family dared to hope that they might find a new home, at least for now, in America.
“I still don’t believe I’m here, it’s still shock,” Samokhvalova said.
One Omaha man made the journey possible.
“It’s amazing step, what he did to us,” a tearful Samokhvalova said.
While Andrew DeFonzo is away on business, his Millard house is usually empty. Now, however, it is a refuge filled with toys and medicine.
“It worked out perfectly so they could come over to the house, stay there, get some much-needed comfort and sense of safety,” DeFonzo said.
DeFonzo met Samokhvalova online while working abroad a few years ago. They didn’t meet in person until the family stepped foot on U.S. soil.
“When this came along the stars just kind of aligned,” said DeFonzo, who is serving as the family’s sponsor — anyone coming to the U.S. under the Biden administration’s ‘Uniting for Ukraine’ program needs one. “It’s a much bigger thing than just getting them over here and finding a place to live for them.”
After check-ups at Children’s, where he got a customized wheelchair, Mark is healthy and Yeva’s happy, showing KETV NewsWatch 7 her new toys, and the stuffed animal she brought from home. They hope to enroll her at school in the fall, and she is already picking up some English.
Samokhvalova said Mark was welcomed with open arms, a welcome change from the stigma they often encountered back home.
“People react differently on disabled kids,” said Samokhvalova.
She has even heard of some people abandoning their kids with disabilities as they flee.
“How difficult it will be for me to travel and how difficult it will be, I will never, never ever do this to my child,” Samokhvalova said.
With DeFonzo’s help, they can live here for two years. Samokhvalova’s mother wants to return to a victorious Ukraine. This is the first time she’s ever left. Samokhvalova wants to help her country win the war but sees her family’s future blossoming here.
“I think for my kids right now, better stay here,” Samokhvalova said.
DeFonzo said they have applied for work permits.
Ukraine’s national flower flourishes in the garden, as this family plants new roots and prays for peace.
“You get up and you see a new day, you see sun and I want to tell people, I want they don’t forget this, that they have this,” Samokhvalova said.
DeFonzo has organized a GoFundMe for the Samokhvalova family. Click here to donate.
