Ukrainian Woman Saved a Pole During a Flood, Who Had Sheltered Her at the Start of the War.

An unusual story of mutual assistance between a Pole and a Ukrainian woman occurred in the Polish city of Kłodzko. Rafał Kowal, who was forced to flee from the flood, received help from a Ukrainian woman named Natalia. They met during the war in Ukraine when Rafał sheltered Natalia and her family.

"She saved me," says Rafał. At first, he disregarded warnings about the approaching flood, but when the water started to rise in the city, he began to worry.

On the advice of his elderly neighbor, who recounted the flood of 1997, Rafał decided to leave his home and turn to relatives in a safer part of the city. But Natalia, who lives in Wrocław, offers him shelter.

Natalia, a 41-year-old woman from Kharkiv, arrived in Poland in February 2022 with her children to escape the war. She stayed with Rafał for four months and then moved to Wrocław, where she works as a cook in a restaurant.

"We will never forget how he helped us," notes Natalia. - So when I heard about the approaching flood to Kłodzko, I immediately called him.

After the flood receded, Rafał returned to his home in Kłodzko. His apartment was not damaged, but one of his neighbors suffered significant losses. That same evening, Rafał returned to Natalia, as Wrocław is now preparing for the climax of the flood.

"I don't know why, but Natalia isn't scared. Maybe the war has made her stronger?" Rafał muses.