A brave woman attracted headlines after doing an incredible gesture of love and heroism by physically transporting her dog across the border from Ukraine.
This story is about Alisa Teptiuk, 35, who had already had a major setback before the conflict. Her father passed away two days before Russia entered Ukraine.
As Russian soldiers advanced, she was forced to gather her possessions and flee the nation while grieving and preparing for her father’s d.e.a.t.h.
“While many people fled Kyiv, my husband and I were trying to sort through funeral papers from all around the city in order to bury Dad,” she continues.
“We traveled from morgue to funeral parlor to attorney general’s office to register office and so on.” “Tanks roared into the city, sirens blasting from every direction.”
Teptiuk was fortunate that her boss, who worked for a German company, supported her in organizing travel to Poland.
So she crammed her husband, seven other relatives, and two enormous dogs into a small Peugeot 307 and drove the 100 kilometres to the Ukraine border.
After 16 hours on the road, the family landed in a small town with just over 10 kilometers to go until reaching Poland.
“We opted to evacuate the place later in the morning since it was risky even there,” Teptiuk adds. “Because we couldn’t stay in the car for the next 3–5 days near the Polish border, we opted to walk the last 17 kilometers (112 miles) to the border.”
“We left at 4 a.m., when it was -7 degrees outside.” It was a difficult trek through mountains and lakes. My children were crying because of the cold. I wanted to cry as well, but I couldn’t. It was my plan to travel to the border.
One of her pets began to suffer right away. Puyla, a massive 12-year-old German shepherd, had difficulty walking and would fall down.
Teptiuk would stop on the side of the road and ask for help, but the other travelers were already too full to take them in, and some of them even told them to leave the dogs behind.
Even as the elderly dog tried to move on its own, the caring mother and her family couldn’t understand such conduct.
“We couldn’t leave her,” Teptiuk says. “Pulya is family after a lifetime with us… she is senior and grey.” When we acquired her on the first day of my parental leave, she was roughly four months old. ”
“She has experienced our pleasures and sufferings.” She appreciates and loves us, and we cherish her and will do all in our power to defend and care for her. Nobody could convince us to leave Pulya. We didn’t consider it since it was impossible. ”
Teptiuk and her husband instead immediately started carrying the sick animal the last 10 kilometers to the Ukrainian border on their shoulders. The courageous act was later recorded on film and published on social media.
“I shot a photo without thinking about it,” Teptiuk says. “I suppose I was just trying to capture the moment.” But now I see how distinctive it is.It reflects our affection and commitment to the rest of the world. We’re just an ordinary family who adores one another. ”
Teptiuk and her family members, as well as their cat Pulya, the “one steady amid all of this craziness,” made it safely across the border.
However, they have a long way to go. “A lot of my buddies are still in Ukraine, in Kyiv,” she says. “Some of them are sheltering in Kharkiv bunkers with little children, and I can’t imagine how they feel right now.”
