Russian soldiers murdered a Norfolk landscape gardener who was volunteering as a medic with Ukrainian forces while they were on patrol.
It’s thought that 48-year-old Craig Stanley Mackintosh was shot dead on Wednesday of last week when his team was attacked.
He is said to have been struck in the neck while attempting to save a wounded comrade inside a car damaged by a tank shell close to the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.
In a Facebook post, his sister Lorna Mackintosh said he had “killed in action rescuing lives as a real hero.”
When he was 16 to 23 years old, Mr. Mackintosh of Thetford, Norfolk, who had two children and two stepdaughters, served in the Territorial Army with the goal of becoming a full-time soldier.
It’s thought that 48-year-old Craig Stanley Mackintosh was fatally shot on Wednesday of last week when his team was attacked.
However, he was unable to join the British Army due to an inoperable cyst near his brain, so he instead worked as a landscape gardener and a tree surgeon.
He decided to volunteer to assist the Ukrainian war effort as a medic after a chainsaw accident left him in excruciating agony, and he departed the UK on March 24.
Before undertaking a second tour with a volunteer squad in Ukraine at the beginning of August, he temporarily returned in April for a period of leave.
He informed us that this would be his “last hurrah” before “going back to Blighty to be a gardener,” according to Lorna of Thetford, in October.
It had always been his desire to join the military, but after seeing the destruction caused by the fighting, he decided he wanted to go out and aid those in need.
Craig was the kind of guy who would attempt to make someone laugh in the face of a challenging circumstance. He was hilarious and a great morale booster.
He was highly known, adored, and respected by whole communities since all he wanted to do was assist others.
In an effort to acquire the funds necessary to send his remains home, his family has now started a gofundme campaign.
Please assist us in bringing this war hero home, said Lorna on the gofundme campaign, which has received more than £4,100 in donations so far.
“Our brother valiantly offered to volunteer to go there (Ukraine) as a medic in order to aid in saving lives in this nation ravaged by conflict. He perished while doing his job to assist others.
There is now no assistance available to transport this selfless guy home; he is stuck in a morgue in Ukraine.
He will need to be deported back to the UK, which would cost around £4,000, according to a global funeral service with whom we talked.
“He sacrificed his life to rescue others, and he must return home to get the support he deserves.” In the presence of his loved ones, a real hero served. Please, help us return our hero to his family.
She said, “Craig touched the hearts of many people here and in the Ukraine and will always be remembered as a real hero,” in another Facebook post.
We still don’t really get the situation, according to Mr. Mackintosh’s other sister Claire.
We’ve been given bits and pieces of information by generous individuals who are sharing what they know.
“We believe there has been a severe lack of assistance to assist in helping repatriate his body to England and to those volunteering on the front lines,” they said.
Thetford-based Turner Funerals is organising the return of Mr. Mackintosh’s corpse to his hometown.
In order to retrieve his remains from a morgue in the village of Lozova, the firm’s director Lydia Turner said that her partner Mal Offen and another staff member will travel more than 1,700 kilometres across France, Germany, and Poland.
Since flying to Ukraine is not possible, we will be travelling by car. We have a tonne of documentation that has to be filled out. However, the British Consulate is assisting us in obtaining whatever we want.
The biggest issue was that his family was concerned about his travelling back here alone. They have our word that we would go with him the whole way.
George Dyson, a doctor who fought with Mr. Mackintosh in Ukraine, said on social media that he had been murdered while his unit was “pinned down” and suffering losses.
He said that when his companion was “sadly shot by Orcs,” he was “saving his fellow troops and fled over wide land.”
“This guy deserves a medal and more,” My Dyson said. Before returning to Ukraine for a second time, I spoke to Craig every day.
He was a wonderful man with a huge heart and a fantastic sense of humour.
I just met with a member of Craig’s squad, and he told me that Craig fought with tremendous courage and honour and was a really brave man.
“If anybody would want to assist my family in returning this gallant man’s body to England, please do so.”
I offer his family, friends, and loved ones my sincere sympathies. RIP brave soldier