A Menomonee Falls woman is preparing to head to her native, Ukraine this Sunday with hopes of bringing her son home to the US.
In March, we spoke with Nataliya Gissibl, a teacher's aid at Menomonee Falls High School that was picking up extra jobs to send back money to support her 19-year-old son, Nils.
As the conflict between Russia and Ukraine grew she realized sending back money is not enough, so she decided to head to them.
Nils was attending medical school in Kharkiv, located in the northeast of Ukraine when Russia had invaded. He immediately transitioned to helping wounded Ukrainian soldiers.
She says Nils has already attempted to leave but was turned away at the Poland border. Determined now to help, Nataliya plans to fly to Poland Sunday and then cross the border into Ukraine.
"After a couple of times trying to reach my family and my friends, I just decided it will be better for me just to go there to Ukraine and reach out, find out how is my family doing, how my friends doing, how my son is doing and if I would be lucky try to bring them over to the United States," said Gissibl.
How she will enter Ukraine has yet to be determined.
"If I would be lucky I'll take a bus or a taxi. If nobody will let me into Ukraine, I'll crawl," said Gissibl.
She says nothing, not even war, will keep her from trying to protect her son and get him to safety.
"I know it's a risk right now but actually, honestly, I don't care because my family is my priority."
But in order to help her family overseas, she must leave her daughter Anya to stay back in Menomonee Falls.
"She asked me mom are you coming back? Are you sure you want to go there, are you gonna be in a safe place? I told her yes everything is going to be alright."
A fundraiser has been set up to help the family out. For more information on how to donate click on this link.
