Luba on last leg of her rescue mission

Luba Healy who undertook a 6,000km round trip mission to rescue her mother and grandmother from Ulkraine is on the final leg of her journey home to Trim.

Luba will be bringing her “precious cargo” - her 70 year old Mum, Nina and 98 year old Granny, Galina - from Cherboug to Ireland overnight and then onwards to Trim.

It is the last phase of a journey fraught with danger and frustration.

Having brought her Mum and Nana to safety on Monday afternoon, following a risky journey into war-torn Ukraine, numerous delays meant they missed their planned Wednesday night sailing and were afraid they might not get another until Tuesday.

Luckily, Luba and her family have managed to get a sailing tonight but other members of the group may be longer.

The journey was particularly difficult for her grandmother Galina and they had to take several breaks from travelling to look after her as she was exhausted and had high blood pressure..

Luba, travelled to Ukraine with her husband Eugene, son Francis and family friend Diarmuid Dawson in a camper van and a jeep.

Her Nana and mum travelled by minibus from her home town of Haivoron in central Ukraine to the area inside Ukraine close to the Polish border.

It was difficult for the group fleeing the warn torn country. “There were sirens going off. They thought about looking for shelter, decided to ignore the sirens and take a chance and keep on travelling. It took them about 10 hours to get to the petrol station near the border where they waited for us,” Luba explains.

"It was chaos at the Ukrainian border. There were sirens going off everywhere and we were delayed by over two hours with paperwork."

“They were all very frightened and even when we were safely in Poland they were scared.”

Luba explains that her Mum and Nana had been determined to stay in Ukraine.

“It was only the threat of Russian soldiers abusing my grandmother than convinced my mother to make the journey," says Luba.

“My mum has been very strong and determined until now.

“She said she had a mallet at the door and was ready for the Russians."

Luba has vowed to look after them both “like an egg” and said she will now be able to eat and sleep again.

As well as her Mum and Nana, the Trim woman is also bringing five friends including a four year old girl and three dogs back to Ireland.