MedEvacuation for child on Russia-Ukraine Border

This GoFundMe account was made on behalf of the Jagge Family by the nurse who accompanied them on their trip to Ukraine to help bring home their medically fragile, newly adopted child, Ruslan. Ruslan has several disabilities and has lived all four years of his life in an orphanage, constantly over-sedated.

The trip to Ukraine and the process of getting Ruslan from the orphanage went fairly well. Although he was dangerously over-sedated, we were prepared for this. We headed to the airport on Saturday Feb 12, feeling like all was in order and we were ready to get back to the states. At the airport, we started through the exit process at customs. A decision was made by a lone border agent that had catastrophic ramifications. The guard said Ruslan’s paperwork that was filled out by the court was incorrect. This was simply not true. The exact same forms had been submitted hundreds of times for other adoptions, with no problem. After explaining over and over that Ruslan was legal, had a passport, visa, and all the correct adoption paperwork submitted by the court- the agent denied us permission to exit Ukraine and head to the US, causing us to miss our flight. We were detained in the border patrol office for seven hours. We called the adoption agency, the courts, 4 different US embassies, Vice Consulates, and so many more people, yet we were still not granted permission to leave the country. Ruslan’s paperwork was flagged. We begged the guard to reconsider her decision and tried to convince her that she had misunderstood the paperwork, yet she purposefully and rudely disregarded the orders of the US embassy and courts, and threatened us. They would not even let us use the restroom! We were repeatedly lied to and the agent would not relent. Even the supervisor refused to interact with us. The level of incompetence, pride, and evil that these agents portrayed was astounding.

We were stuck. We could not leave the country, it was the weekend, and an executive order had been issued by President Biden for embassy staff to leave. We were stuck. Nothing could be done. Behind the scenes, people were working hard to get this resolved with the US embassy, but we simply had to wait, not knowing if Ruslan would make it home alive by the time they made their decision. Ruslan was on many medications to help his withdrawals, but we were quickly running out of meds.

On Monday, the adoption agency hired an attorney who talked with the supervisor at the border control who, after extensive arguing, agreed to let us leave. However, he would not put this in writing, and we had been lied to so many times, we were not sure if we believed him.We worried about buying international tickets last minute because they were costly and risky, and we knew each border agent could have a different opinion and cause us to be detained once again..

On Valentine’s day, we received a terrifying warning from an internal source that we needed to flee Kyiv that night. The Russians were coming and an airstrike could take place any moment. We flew into action, not even bothering to pack all of our things, and headed OUT. We had no concrete plan. We were going to flee to a city 10 hours away, in hopes that we could miss the airstrike. We considered crossing every possible border, but with the covid restrictions and the flag on Ruslan’s paperwork, it was risky that we would be granted the ability to cross the border.

With Kyiv beginning to feel the fear of a pending war, we raced to the airport, hoping we could find a ticket. The US embassy had been evacuated, their documents and machines destroyed. All emergency US evacuation flights had ended. Most flights were booked, and the airport was a madhouse with people frantic to escape. By the grace of God, we went through an immigration line that had a border guard that had not harassed us two days before, and she stamped our paperwork, and let us through! The level of relief in that moment was unlike anything we’ve ever experienced. Through a series of miracles and the help of extremely well connected people and groups, we made it on a flight to Turkey.

From Istanbul we were able to piece together some flights to the US, so we could finally get little Ruslan admitted to the hospital. Over the final day we were in Kyiv, Ruslan was rapidly developing pneumonia. His little body is so tired of fighting. Fighting withdrawals, seizures, constant fluctuating fevers, fear, anxiety, and now pneumonia. We made it in time. Ruslan is safe and in the hospital, but struggling so very much. His agony continues as they try to safely wean him off the haldol and benzodiazepines the orphanage had continually overdosed him with.

The Jagges now face mounting unexpected bills. The canceled flight from Kyiv to the US, the attorney costs, additional housing, drivers willing to drive and hide us across the country, 3 additional flights for 4 people, hotels, Turkish visas, leave of absences from work, and so much more.

Without your prayers, we would not have made it out. Getting out of Kyiv would have been nearly impossible. Now, the Jagges need your financial support. Any amount would help. So many of you have asked how you can help, and giving is one way. Thank you all for all you have done. Please share this link and do what you can to help lessen this burden for the Jagge family.