Leaving Ukraine: Ancaster’s Wyatt Raitt’s ‘painful’ journey home

Of the hundreds of photos Wyatt Raitt has taken on his cellphone at the Poland-Ukraine border, one sticks out.

It's a selfie that shows his eyes droopy and bloodshot, hair slicked back and unkempt, beard dishevelled, cheeks beet-red, skin baggy, clothes coated in dirt.

Me at my lowest," says the 22-year-old in a self-deprecating tone.

Typically, the shots he's collected this month in Medyka, Poland - a small village turned refugee camp for millions of Ukrainians fleeing the Russian-waged war - were posted to Instagram or sent to his mother.

But not this one.

I didn't post it because she would've been so worried," he says in a phone interview with The Spectator. I look homeless."

The Ancaster man took it late last week after a nearly 12-hour-trip into war-torn Ukraine, which he spent in the back of a cargo convoy he paid to get on. Leaving at dawn and returning at dusk, he bounced from town to town along western Ukraine's main highways and rural back-roads in search of a former classmate he'd set out to help.

His parents didn't know. Raitt repeatedly assured them he wouldn't venture into the country. They only found out after incessantly calling their son who they hadn't heard from in hours.

Dad, I'm in Ukraine right now, OK?" Raitt told his father from the back of the cargo truck. I can't talk right now."

The risky trip was a last-ditch attempt to find the little sister of the old friend he'd travelled halfway across the world to care for.

As the truck's driver would occasionally stop and drop off supplies to Ukrainian troops manning outposts, Raitt would peer out the window, asking if anyone had heard from or seen his buddy Alek and seven-year-old Arila.

But he uncovered no leads.

A long-shot and not worth the risk," Raitt admitted, reflecting on the trip over a call Tuesday. But I needed that peace of mind - that I really looked and tried."

It's been more than two weeks since Raitt left the comfort of his parents' Ancaster home and took three flights and two trains to reach southeast Poland where he promised to meet Alek and Arila on March 10 or 11.

There's been no sign of either.

Raitt says his eyes are sore from scanning the thousands of unfamiliar faces who cross the border on foot. His body is drained from sleeping in the cold, barren outdoor tents that dot Medyka. And his wallet is drained from trips into nearby towns where he's bought countless supplies for refugees.

On Wednesday, with great reluctance, he began his journey home.

I can't help but feel like the trip was a failure," says a demoralized Raitt. I always knew coming out here that there was a chance I wouldn't find what I was looking for, but to leave like this ... it's really painful."

Pain, in many ways, is synonymous with exhaustion. And both are palpable in that selfie Raitt took after returning from Ukraine - a young man at his wits' end who tried everything and looked everywhere to no avail.

The last time Raitt heard from Alek was March 2, the day his old Carleton University classmate said he was leaving Ukraine's besieged capital with his kid sister. It was agreed the trio would meet in Medyka, a roughly 600-kilometre journey from Kyiv, about a week later. Raitt would take Arila while Alek went back to fight.

I still haven't heard from him," says Raitt, who'd never left North America until he departed for Poland on March 7.

As Raitt waited for his friend, he became one of thousands of selfless global volunteers in Medyka, buying supplies out of pocket and making pizzas for hungry Ukrainian refugees.

I think he's found his calling as a humanitarian," his father, Stephen Raitt, previously said in an interview with The Spectator.

Raitt's humanitarian awakening inspired hundreds and sparked a remote media tour that saw his story broadcast across Canada. A GoFundMe his father established for the trip raised more than $11,000 from 133 donors. But that money, key to keeping Raitt in Medyka, is now gone - spent on tampons and hygiene products and copious amounts of yeast and flour for refugees in need.

I rented a car for a bit and also paid others to take me into town. We'd clear entire shelves of yeast at grocery stores," he says. But I'm completely broke now. I would sell my laptop but that broke the day I got here."

Money, too, was used to cover flights, like the one Raitt took Wednesday to London, England, where he'll stay with extended family for a week to rest before coming home to Hamilton.

It's been really difficult on my body, this trip," he says. I only packed for two-to-three days."

And so a tired Raitt leaves Poland with conflicting emotions.

On the one hand, he knows his impromptu trip fell short of what he'd hoped - Arila, he believes, remains in Ukraine. On the other, he knows his work at the border has helped bring relief to thousands of upended lives.

That's the weird part," he says, because in a way, beyond not accomplishing the original goal of the trip, I did far more than I ever intended or expected."

Raitt worries he'll get home and get the message from Alek he's been waiting for. And that makes me feel just awful, if they're there and I'm not," he says. But he takes solace in the fact that he's found purpose in his life.

I want to make a difference, somewhere or somehow, because it really means a lot to me to help people - even that's at home," he says. I want that to be my calling going forward."

Sebastian Bron is a reporter at The Spectator. sbron@thespec.com