Family of Brit killed by troops in Ukraine raise more than £12,000
Family of British father-of-four landscape gardener, 48, killed by Putin’s troops in Ukraine raise more than £12,000 to bring his body home for a ‘hero’s funeral’
- Volunteer medic Craig Mackintosh, 48, was shot dead on Wednesday in Kharkiv
- The landscape gardener, from Thetford, Norfolk, volunteered to support Ukraine
- His sister Lorna said that it would cost around £4,000 to repatriate his body
The family of a British father-of-four landscape gardener who was killed by Russian troops while serving as a volunteer medic with Ukrainian forces has raised more than £12,000 to bring his body home for a ‘hero’s funeral’.
Craig Stanley Mackintosh, 48, from Thetford, Norfolk, was shot dead on Wednesday last week when his squad was ambushed.
It is believed that he was hit in the neck while trying to help an injured comrade in a vehicle hit by a tank shell near the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.
His sister Lorna wrote on a GoFundMe page: ‘Our brother bravely volunteered to go to [Ukraine] as a medic to help save lives in this war torn country.
‘This selfless man is currently stranded in a morgue in Ukraine and there is no help to get him home.
‘We have spoken to an international funeral provider and it’s going to cost around £4,000 to have him repatriated back to the UK.
‘He gave his life to save others and he needs to come back home to have the service he deserves.
‘A true hero’s service surrounded by his family and friends. Please, please help to bring our hero home.’
Craig Stanley Mackintosh, 48, from Thetford, Norfolk, was shot dead on Wednesday last week when his squad was ambushed
It is believed that he was hit in the neck while trying to help an injured comrade in a vehicle hit by a tank shell near the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv
Turner Funerals of Thetford is making arrangements to bring Mr Mackintosh’s body back to his home town.
The firm’s director Lydia Turner said her partner Mal Offen and another member of staff would be driving more than 1,700 miles through France, Germany and Poland to collect his body from a mortuary in the town of Lozova.
Mr Mackintosh, who had two daughters and two step-daughters, served in the Territorial Army between the ages of 16 to 23 when he had the ambition of becoming a full time soldier.
But an inoperable cyst near his brain meant he failed a medical examination to join the British Army, and he became a landscape gardener and a tree surgeon
After an accident involving a chainsaw left him in constant pain, he decided to volunteer to join the Ukrainian war effort as a medic, leaving the UK on March 24.
He returned briefly in April for a spell of leave before starting a second tour with a volunteer squad in Ukraine at the beginning of August.
His sister Lorna wrote on a GoFundMe page : ‘Our brother bravely volunteered to go to [Ukraine] as a medic to help save lives in this war torn country’
Mr Mackintosh served in the Territorial Army between the ages of 16 to 23 when he had the ambition of becoming a full time soldier but an inoperable cyst near his brain meant he failed a medical examination to join the British Army
Lorna said: ‘He told us this would be his “last hurrah” before “coming back to Blighty to be a gardener” in October.’
She added: ‘It had always been his dream to serve in the armed forces, and watching the conflict unfold and seeing the devastation, he decided he wanted to go out to help people.
‘Craig was the kind of person who would see a difficult situation and try to make someone laugh. He was a real morale booster and very funny.
‘He was well-known and well-loved and earned the respect of entire villages – all he wanted to do was to help people.’
In another Facebook post, she added: ‘Craig touched the hearts of many people here and in the Ukraine and will always be remembered as a true hero’.
Mr Mackintosh’s other sister Claire said: ‘We still don’t understand the full picture. We’ve been offered scraps of information from kind-hearted volunteers giving us what they know.
‘We feel there has been a serious lack of support to help return his body to England and to those volunteering on the front lines.’
Source: Read Full Article