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FITCHBURG, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — A man from Fitchburg has successfully aided his 19-year-old daughter and 9-month-old grandson in escaping Ukraine on Saturday, as the family said they crossed the border into Slovakia after traversing rough landscape.
Dr. William Hubbard and his wife Deborah Hubbard had been trying to get their daughter Aislinn and her infant son Seraphim out of the warzone in Kyiv for weeks. The family said they hit numerous bureaucratic roadblocks trying to evacuate them, as Seraphim was born at home and therefore does not have a birth certificate or passport. In Ukraine, home birthed babies need to have their certificates applied for, and without one, cannot leave the country.
According to Hubbard, the family had done a DNA test to prove that Aislinn is American and that Seraphim is her son, but the test was denied by Ukrainian officials.
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Dr. Hubbard traveled to Ukraine himself despite warnings and said that it was his duty as Aislinn's father and Seraphim's grandfather to get them out of the crossfire. Seraphim, Aislinn, and her Ukrainian boyfriend were able to escape, Hubbard said, and were finally safe from the war in Slovakia.
Hubbard said that his daughter and grandson had to climb a two-thousand-foot mountain, cross a river, and avoid capture by Ukrainian troops to get across the border. Hubbard said he waited in Ukraine until Aislinn and Seraphim were safe in Slovakia, then he crossed the border and reunited with them.
WBZ's Dan Rea (@WBZNightSide) reports.
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