Peter McCully: Welcome back. This is The PULSE Community Podcast. I’m Peter McCully.

Dave Graham: And I’m Dave Graham, fresh off my first official learn to skate class, which I can now describe firsthand as a valuable lesson in just how many directions a body can fall at once.

Peter McCully: How’d it go, Dave?

Dave Graham: Well, nobody got hurt. Well, except me, repeatedly. The instructor told me I have real enthusiasm, which I’ve chosen to interpret as a comment on my skill rather than a polite way of saying I fell down a lot.

Peter McCully: Well, let’s go with that. We’d like to open the show a little differently this week. September 21st was the International Day of Peace, and this year the timing lines up perfectly with two of our guests.

Dave Graham: It really does. Both of them are proof that supportive and caring isn’t just something we say about this island. It’s something islanders actually go and do halfway around the world if that’s what it takes.

Peter McCully: This episode of The PULSE Community Podcast is brought to you in part by Tablet Pharmacy, with locations in Parksville, Qualicum Beach, and Nanaimo.

Dave Graham: Visit them online and check their prices at tabletpharmacy.ca.

Peter McCully: Darrell McKay is a retired engineer in Campbell River who has made eight volunteer trips to Ukraine delivering humanitarian aid. He has a wedding and Italian honeymoon ahead, and another Ukraine trip already planned after that, where he’ll be volunteering in various capacities.

Darrell McKay: Just recently working on an evacuation crew, we had a minibus full of blind elderly that couldn’t get out, that we finally got them out of harm’s way. One of them, she just sat there, just looking into the blue sky. She couldn’t see and she had to leave so quick, she was only partially dressed. All of her stuff was in just one bag, and this poor woman has the rest of her life to live with nothing. I know she’ll be cared for and looked after, but to be chased from your home that you’ve lived in for 80 or 90 years, it’s gotta be horrible.

Dave Graham: At 75 years old, Ladysmith city councillor Duck Paterson is trading council chambers for the driver’s seat of an ambulance loaded with medical supplies on a 2,000-kilometre drive across Europe from Germany into war-torn Ukraine, all the way to Kyiv.

Duck Paterson: They’ve got probably 50 ambulances. The route is plotted by Ukraine Focus, and all the rooms are booked in advance. We have already had to pay for them. We travel in groups of five, six, or seven. A group of 50 ambulances would be an easy target, so we’re just smaller targets. We leave at different times. We all arrive at the next hotel, have the group meeting, and then dinner, and then a little bit of time to look around.

Peter McCully: On a future edition of the podcast, Ken Neden, who has spent close to five decades volunteering with the Arrowsmith Search and Rescue, helping people through some of the most difficult moments of their lives.

Dave Graham: And award-winning swimmer Melanie Buggey chats with us. The 33-year-old marathon swimmer crossed the Strait of Georgia from Sechelt to Schooner Cove in record time. And by that, I mean she smashed the old record. And when she was done, she felt like she could turn around and swim back across. We’ll be hearing her story soon.

Peter McCully: Ann Vriend is a multi-award-winning singer-songwriter who leads the all-female group AV and the Inner City, and she’s bringing that sound to Vancouver Island.

Tablet Pharmacy: At Tablet Pharmacy, they provide the personalized service you deserve. Check their competitive prices online at tabletpharmacy.ca before you even leave home. They offer free delivery and blister packaging options to make managing your medications easier than ever. With convenient locations in Parksville, Qualicum Beach, and Nanaimo, Tablet Pharmacy has been serving Vancouver Island since 2019. Stop being just a prescription number. Experience the Tablet Pharmacy difference today. Visit them online and check their prices at tabletpharmacy.ca.

Ian Lindsay & Associates: Ian Lindsay of Lindsay and Associates has played an active role in the local community since 1979. He has been with RE/MAX, Vancouver Island’s most advanced real estate business network, since 1996, marketing and selling residential, rural, strata, recreational, investment, and project development real estate. Ian has received several awards recognizing his exceptional community commitment locally, as well as awards for outstanding performance and achievement from both RE/MAX International and the Vancouver Island Real Estate Board. You’ll find true real estate professionals at ianlindsay.ca.

Dave Graham: We have a new contest underway. It’s with the folks at Parks West in Parksville, and we’re giving away $50 worth of art supplies. We’re talking, oh, pencil crayons, and markers, and sketchbooks, and more.

Peter McCully: To enter to win, fill out the form at the contest link. And we have a semi-skill testing question based on our Skookum Kid’s Stories. Tell us the name of Captain Dave’s first mate or Gracie, the Eskimo dog’s owner.

Dave Graham: And check out the colouring pages that come with each podcast story in our Kids Stories series. Now, it’s time for our first guest. Here’s Marilyn.

Marilyn: At 75, Ladysmith city councillor, Duck Paterson, is trading council chambers for a 2,000-kilometre drive across Europe, piloting an ambulance loaded with medical supplies from Germany into war-torn Ukraine, all the way to Kyiv. Today, he joins us to talk about why he’s doing it and how you can help.

Peter McCully: Welcome to the podcast today, Duck.

Duck Paterson: Well, thank you very much.

Peter McCully: It has been a while since we bumped into each other.

Duck Paterson: Yeah, a few years.

Peter McCully: Just a few. Probably the last time was at a campground at Miracle Beach, was it not?

Duck Paterson: I think so, yeah. Both of us were probably enjoying the time away from the newspaper.

Peter McCully: Duck, at 75, most people are slowing down. I wonder what made you decide this was the moment that you were gonna take on something like volunteering and fundraising for the Ukraine?

Duck Paterson: I did a story about a gentleman in Chemainus who I’d known for a while, and he told me he was gonna volunteer and do this. So I did a story on him. A couple of weeks later, he contacted me, and Brock Bierman, who is the head of a nonprofit called Ukraine Focus, who Shep was going to drive the ambulance for, came up to Chemainus, and I went down to meet him. It turned out I did a story on that. Over that couple hours, I went, “What’s it take to do this?” And he said, “Do you wanna do it?” And I said, “Sure.” And he said, “Okay, you’re in.” I guess I volunteered to drive ambulance from Munich to Kyiv. And I came home and told my wife. That didn’t go over well, but here we are.

Peter McCully: Why an ambulance specifically, Duck?

Duck Paterson: The ambulances are needed unfortunately. If people go online, look up Ukraine Focus or some of the other websites regarding the Russian bullying of the Ukraine people, ambulance seem to be a prime target for the Russians to shoot at. So they go through a lot of ambulances on a regular basis. So Ukraine Focus procures used ambulances from around Europe, get them roadworthy, and then seeks volunteers to drive them, most of the time from Germany or through Czechoslovakia or Poland to the Ukraine and into Kyiv.

Peter McCully: Other than the story you were writing, was there a person or a connection to Ukraine that made this personal for you?

Duck Paterson: There’s a lady here, Ladysmith, who is a refugee from the Ukraine. Talked to her a bit. These people are getting bombed and atrocities such as that for no reason, for nothing that they’ve done. It’s not right. And there’s all sorts of this stuff all over the world. This opportunity arose and I thought, besides it being an experience, something I could help a little way to help some people.

Peter McCully: You’re going to, as you say, drive an ambulance from Germany to Kyiv. Can you walk us through the route?

Duck Paterson: This route, it varies from what I can understand. This is the 19th mission that Ukraine Focus has done. This one goes from Munich to Prague in Czechoslovakia, and then down into Kraków in Poland, and then we cross the border into Lviv, into the Ukraine, and go from Lviv into Kyiv. So it’s an up and down trip, but that’s what we’re doing.

Peter McCully: How long will this take, do you think?

Duck Paterson: We leave Munich on October 4th. We’re in Kyiv on October the 11th or 12th. It kind of juggles a bit because sometimes there’s issues at the border crossings or for whatever reason.

Peter McCully: What have they told you about what a day of driving looks like through that route from Germany through to Kyiv? What’s it look like logistically, border crossings, fuel, where do you sleep, how many drivers?

Duck Paterson: I don’t know how many volunteers there is. Brock was saying they’ve got probably 50 ambulances. People can partner up in the rooms, but the route is plotted by Ukraine Focus, and all the rooms are booked in advance. We have already had to pay for them. Every couple hours there’s a pee break or a fuel stop on the way. We travel in groups of five, six, or seven. A group of 50 ambulances would be an easy target, so we’re just smaller targets. We leave at different times. We all arrive at the next hotel, have the group meeting, and then dinner, and then a little bit of time to look around. But it is very regimented. We’re only allowed to go so far from our hotel. We have special shirts and hats to identify us. It’s a holiday in a way, but it’s not. I guess the experience is just looking at the scenery as we’re driving.

Peter McCully: I did want to ask you about the ambulance, what you know about the actual vehicle and what it might cost, that kind of thing.

Duck Paterson: Brock says that they pay between 10 and $15,000 per ambulance. They usually have about 120,000 kilometres on them. Whatever country or metropolitan area, they recycle them like they do here in Canada, yay Canada, with emergency vehicles.

Peter McCully: So what exactly will be loaded into that ambulance besides the drivers?

Duck Paterson: Medical supplies, generators. They take 3D printers for making prosthetics, stuff that is unfortunately very much required.

Peter McCully: Who are you coordinating with once you cross into Ukraine? There’s hospital groups, contacts on the ground, that kind of thing?

Duck Paterson: It still would be through Ukraine Focus, but the ambulances are delivered to the Ukraine Defence Forces mostly, and because they’re mostly required at the front line, but there’s also a couple of hospitals that they go to that are supported by Ukraine Focus. As I understand, the end of the mission, there’s a bit of a turnover ceremony in Kyiv. They have some of the Defence Force personnel there, and then hospitals, and the ambulances are turned over. We’re thanked, hopefully a lot of hugs, and then away we go home.

Peter McCully: So you’d be taking a train somewhere to an airport probably?

Duck Paterson: Yes, ‘cause there’s different people from different places. Right now I’m the only Canadian. I’m going from Kyiv to Warsaw. I wouldn’t mind taking the train to Munich, an opportunity to see some stuff, but I think to catch my plane, ‘cause I’m travelling by myself, I’m gonna catch a plane to Munich and then spend a day and a night there just so I know I’m gonna be there on time.

Peter McCully: Now you’re paying your own way on this?

Duck Paterson: Everything, yes. They request that we invest money into the ambulances as well as all the expenses, hotel, meals, fuel. Everything is covered by the volunteers.

Peter McCully: And I understand you’ve been doing some fundraising. You lost your locks.

Duck Paterson: Yes. I had a fundraiser at a local barber shop here, Johnny’s. I’m not fussy about raising funds for me, but it’s actually to get the ambulances to the Ukraine. So I had a head shave that people attended and donated. I’ve got a Facebook page on there called Duck’s Mission. If you want to contribute locally to my portion, there is a special account at the Ladysmith and District Credit Union that people can e-transfer to. They can go direct to Ukraine Focus and go to their webpage, which would be very interesting because it tells the whole story. There’s a link there that they can donate to Ukraine Focus.

Peter McCully: I would be remiss if I didn’t ask you before we go that you’ve decided not to re-offer for Ladysmith Council this time around after 38 years. What made this the moment to step back, do you think?

Duck Paterson: After 38 years, if I haven’t screwed it up by now, somebody else better take a shot at it. I guess it was time. Ladysmith is doing very well. Ups and downs like everybody, but 38 years, that’s a long time. You get stuck in your ways. I’m 75, and I’m getting irritable, so it was time. I’m just gonna say it was time.

Peter McCully: You certainly had way more staying power than I did. I could only eke out six or seven years on council.

Duck Paterson: But that was probably before social media.

Peter McCully: It was. Thank goodness, yes. Now, looking back over your time on Ladysmith Council, is there a project or a decision that you’re most proud of?

Duck Paterson: This is gonna sound hokey, but being elected each time, having the trust of people that come out and vote, put their trust in you to say, “We want you to look after what we have here.” So that’s my proudest time. Getting a rapport with the Stz’uminus First Nation, working with them. Hopefully down the line that increases and there’s a good partnership. But starting that ball rolling, I feel very good about that. Just having had the opportunity to be part of various teams of people working to make things better. There’s not any one thing except staying married to my wife, who has looked after me immensely, and she’s put up with this.

Peter McCully: Say hi to Tracy for me.

Duck Paterson: I will.

Peter McCully: So you’re leaving council, but clearly not slowing down if you’re heading to Europe. What’s after Ukraine? Have you lined something up already?

Duck Paterson: I would love to get into doing some woodworking, what you can do with wood and stuff. But no, I hopefully I can stay involved in some aspect. The Ladysmith community has been good to me and my family, and it’s what I think people should do. I’ll find something. I just enjoy being around, and if I can help make people smile, it’s no skin off my face that if I can help, I’m gonna help.

Dave Graham: Duck Paterson, 75 years old and driving an ambulance practically across the continent 2,000 kilometres, groups of five or six cars at a time so they’re not an easy target, all the way to Kyiv. That’s not a retirement plan most of us would pick, and that’s exactly why it’s worth talking about. You’ll find a link to support Duck’s run in our story notes at ThePulseCommunity.ca.

Peter McCully: Most people are nervous parallel parking, and then there’s Duck driving an ambulance to

Dave Graham: Kyiv. Truly impressive. And here on the island, you can check driving conditions through our webcam links. Know before you go, as they say. And we also now feature podcast links, so you can explore and enjoy other island-based podcasts. Just follow the links on our website. By the way, you can also find us on Apple, Amazon, iHeart, Spotify, TikTok, and YouTube. Plus, we’re on Facebook and

Peter McCully: Instagram. If you know of a story we should be looking into, then please speak to us. You can leave a voice or text message. Head to our website and click on the contact link. You’ll find us at ThePulseCommunity.ca.

Alex Chadsey: Hey everyone, my name is Alex Chadsey and I’m the pianist and bandleader with award-winning trio Duende Libre. Get ready for a musical journey without borders when we come to Schar’s Landing on October 3rd. Our music celebrates the connections between jazz and rhythms from Cuba, Brazil, and the Mediterranean. What sets us apart, aside from our eclectic sonic palette, is our emphatic onstage chemistry formed by a decade of performing, touring, and recording together. So get your tickets and we’ll see you on October 3rd at Schar’s Landing.

Tablet Pharmacy: At Tablet Pharmacy, they provide the personalized service you deserve. Check their competitive prices online at tabletpharmacy.ca before you even leave home. They offer free delivery and blister packaging options to make managing your medications easier than ever. With convenient locations in Parksville, Qualicum Beach, and Nanaimo, Tablet Pharmacy has been serving Vancouver Island since 2019. Stop being just a prescription number. Experience the Tablet Pharmacy difference today. Visit them online and check their prices at tabletpharmacy.ca.

Dave Graham: Our second guest this week has logged more frequent flyer miles to a war zone than most of us have to our local grocery store. Here’s Marilyn.

Marilyn: Darrell McKay is a retired engineer in Campbell River who has made eight volunteer trips to Ukraine, delivering humanitarian aid. He wrote the book My Time with Heroes about the experience, and has a second book underway, a wedding, an Italian honeymoon ahead, and another Ukraine trip planned.

Peter McCully: Welcome back to the podcast, Darrell. I’m glad you could find some time for us today.

Darrell McKay: Thanks, Peter. It’s good to talk to you.

Peter McCully: About this time last year, we spoke to you while you were in Kyiv during your eighth volunteer trip to Ukraine with your partner, Olga Buhai. And at that time, we were talking about the book you were just releasing, My Time with Heroes. Before we get to everything that’s new with you, how would you describe what’s changed in Ukraine since we’ve chatted over the past year?

Darrell McKay: Definitely going downhill. This war’s been going on for about five years now. The people are so tired, and they’re so stressed out. There’s so much PTSD throughout the city, even with non-soldiers, families and children. The grocery stores are starting to have empty shelves now, and there’s big fears for this winter because Russia has promised to hit their heat and their water now. So last year, it was electricity and their communications. This winter is gonna be absolutely brutal if they go for their water and their heat.

Peter McCully: And how is transportation, the roads? Are there still buses, that kind of thing?

Darrell McKay: Yes, there’s still transit and buses, and the subways are still working. Russia has been targeting trains again and train stations. Last year when I was there, I think it was 340 train employees were killed doing their job trying to keep people moving. So I’m sure that number’s gone up, but they’re attacking trains, which is a civilian system. Now when there’s an air raids, it could be in the middle of winter. When there’s an air raid siren going off in the area, the train stops, and everybody gets off the train and gets clear of it in case it’s a target. So that has definitely changed.

Peter McCully: I understand from watching the news and reading that the weapon of choice is now drones.

Darrell McKay: Yeah. Drones are so cheap. They’re still using a lot of ballistic missiles, but drones are cheap and as their defences get depleted, you get 30 or 40 or 50 drones coming in. You pick your triage, you pick your high priorities and take them out, and it’s just a numbers game. Lots of drones are getting through. You saw where Lavra, the monastery that was hit and burnt, and now Russia’s going after cultural significant items as well, which you can’t replace Lavra. Thousand years old. Ukraine’s fighting so hard ‘cause they wanna maintain their culture and their heritage and their history, and Russia’s trying to erase that.

Peter McCully: Now, Darrell, I recall when we chatted probably four or five years ago now, you were fundraising for field stretchers, and last year your fundraising total was, I understand, about $140,000, mainly through your Facebook page. Perhaps you could update us on the total that you’ve raised and what the money has been earmarked for.

Darrell McKay: I’m still in awe. I’m up to about $220,000. When I hit $250,000 I’m gonna stop counting because it’s just going on and on and on. But I’ve got a friend, Virginia, in Nanaimo, she’s been instrumental in raising money, and she sells little knick-knacks and old things from her house, and she goes on Marketplace and then she sells them, and she’s raised and helped me to the tune of maybe $40,000. So there’s one person that’s pulled in about $40,000. And that’s what my book and the message is, that anybody can help and everybody can help. Just one person raising $40,000 is pretty incredible, and my total of $220,000, it’s saved lives. What I’m focusing on now is Starlinks. It’s more soldier help, Starlinks, still medical stuff, drone technology, and also computer systems so that they have good computers for their drone systems and better communications with the Starlink so they know exactly what’s going on on the front line.

Peter McCully: I was talking with one group that is fundraising for generators.

Darrell McKay: You still walk down the street and generators are all parked out in front last time I was there. So I went there with Olga, and then I’d come home, and then I regained my health and I went back for a trip to Africa, where I work for an NGO, and then back to Ukraine. It was cold, and there’s generators going everywhere, so it’s gonna be the same thing this year. But the generators are for the electricity. They heat our big steam plants. Like a little baseboard heater will keep you warm and probably let you survive, but these big steam plants going out, that’s not something that generators can fix.

Peter McCully: This is central heating you’re talking about, where one plant powers quite a number of homes and businesses?

Darrell McKay: Exactly, yeah. They have a big steam plant and there’s these pipes over land, and they go to different big buildings and apartment complexes and condos and Soviet-era apartments, and they don’t have their own heat system. So the heat system is maybe two blocks down the road or whatever, and that’s what’s gonna be targeted this winter, which for anybody living in a cold home, that’s awful. But the old people, that’s where it always hits me, is the old people. They can’t go up and down the stairs, they can’t go to the neighbour’s place and have family in a room. Like Olga’s mom, she lives alone. She’s mobile enough to get up and down the stairs, but it’s gonna be awful for her.

Peter McCully: Tell us about Olga’s family.

Darrell McKay: Olga’s mother and brother, they live in Dnipro. It’s a very industrial city, and during the Soviet era, it had a rocket factory. It was a very prized area. Now it’s Ukraine. Russia knows exactly where the assets are, and every night ballistics are coming in or drones are coming in. Poor Olga’s mom, she’s 74 years old, she’s just rattled. The bombs hit so hard and so close that the buildings shake, windows rattle, car alarms go off, and this is incessant. Olga’s older brother, he’s 14 years older, he’s moved in to help his mother because she’s a little bit mobility challenged. She’s doing really well, better than we thought she’d be. We thought she was gonna pass away last year in September, but she’s hung in there, and she’s looking forward to seeing Olga in her wedding dress. And then her extended family, her aunts and cousins and nieces, they live in Pavlograd, which is now about maybe 60K, 65K from the front line. We’re trying to figure out what the heck to do if the Russians do advance and do take Pavlograd. Like, nobody wants to live under occupation. Her family are on the highway to the front line. It’s frightening for all of us. A big part of this trip will be talking logistics on what the heck’s gonna happen. As the Russians are slowly inching forward, they’re taking Konstantynivka, they’re getting close to taking Pokrovsk, captured Pokrovsk. The next city is Pavlograd, so we have to be realistic in case Russian invasion. It all sounds like a Netflix show. It just goes through my head like this can’t be real, but it certainly is.

Peter McCully: How has the reception been to the first book, Darrell? The sales, the feedback?

Darrell McKay: Oh, feedback’s been incredible. I’ve been doing a lot of talks for Rotary, and I usually take 20 or 30 books, and every book sells. I’ve probably sold, I’d say, close to 750 books, and I’ve not really pushed it yet, but I’ve just got somebody that’s marketing it nationwide, so it’s gonna be across Canada very soon. It’s gonna be on BC Ferries, which it’s kind of funny. I might only sell a few hundred books or whatever, but that was my goal to get it on BC Ferries, ‘cause when I take the ferry, I always go to the bookstore and look at the books. And if I can see my book up there, I’d be proud.

Peter McCully: Mm-hmm. All the profits from the book go to your Ukraine efforts.

Darrell McKay: Yes. All the money from the book go to Ukraine. Any of the donations or gift money for medical supplies or Starlinks or whatever, every penny goes to the people, and I fund my way there. I don’t benefit a penny with any of this.

Peter McCully: Now, you mentioned you had lots of feedback on the book. Tell us about that.

Darrell McKay: I think there’s, like, 15 reviews on Amazon, and all of them have been flattering. I’m pretty humble about it, but it’s made me feel really good and made me feel like I got the point across.

Peter McCully: Has it changed how you think about why you keep going back at all?

Darrell McKay: It enforces my decision. I know that I’m doing the right thing.

Peter McCully: Darrell, I understand you’re writing a second book. What’s it going to be about, and how is it shaping up to be different from My Time with Heroes?

Darrell McKay: After writing My Time with Heroes, I’d finished writing, and it took a lot out of me. But my eighth trip to Ukraine, I was with my friend Magnus delivering Starlink Minis and thousands of rounds of ammunition for drones to a frontline command post. And I don’t know how I got qualifications or whatever to get in there, but Magnus talked them into allowing me in. I turned off my cellphone, all the GPS stuff off, as it’s a secret location. Sounds like a Netflix movie, but I walked into this darkened room in this little dark building way out of town, and there was big-screen TVs on the front wall, and there was Ukrainian men hunting Russians and Russian forces. So I was in a frontline command post. Across from me was a Canadian flag, which hit me hard. When the commander came over and through an interpreter, he knows Magnus very well, so he knew that I was probably safe. I showed him my book, told him how much money I’d raised through the interpreter, and he’s asked me to write the second book. And this second book’s gonna be way more arduous to write. I’m interviewing nurses that have dealt with abused children. I’m interviewing people that have been kept hostage, tortured. This commander, he wanted a book that tells the truth about the horrible things that Russia is doing. The title’s called Dark: Volunteering and the Stories We Can’t Tell.

Peter McCully: I’ve had a lot of friends that have been around bombs going off and dealing with dead people, and they’re horrific stories to tell, but they really have to be put out there. Sounds like a hard book to write and perhaps a hard book to read.

Darrell McKay: It’s gonna be both of those. I’m probably a quarter of the way through it, and there’s a few parts that absolutely shock me. I had Olga read it. She just sat there after she read it and she said, “Yeah, this is gonna hit the spot.” ‘Cause people need to know this. These poor people are going through hell.

Peter McCully: So Darrell, let’s talk about your big personal news. You’re getting married. We met Olga on our last podcast chat when you were in Ukraine. And for those that don’t know the story, how did you two meet?

Darrell McKay: A mutual friend we both respect, he introduced us at the third anniversary of the start of the war. And I remember it was end of February, and I met Olga and shook her hand, and she was freezing cold. I said, “You’re freezing.” And she says, “Yeah, that’s okay.” Typical tough Ukrainian person. About a year and a half after that, she needed a place to rent, so she rented my mom’s basement suite. Through me visiting my mom and visiting Olga, we ended up being together, and yeah, we got engaged a couple months ago, and we’re getting married in Osoyoos. Gonna do a little runaway elopement, and then honeymoon in Italy for two weeks, and then go see her family in Dnipro and Pavlograd. Yeah, it’s ended up being pretty happy story.

Peter McCully: Well, that’s a lot to deal with. You’re planning a wedding and a honeymoon in Italy, and also planning a trip into an active war zone.

Darrell McKay: That’s one of the reasons we did the elopement, ‘cause planning a wedding is high stress, huge stress. Eloping, I’ve got a buddy of mine gonna be my witness. Olga’s got her 21-year-old son gonna be her witness. We got a couple of friends showing up, but it’s gonna be really low-key, really mellow, very enjoyable, and reduce the stress until we get on the plane. Italy’s gonna be wonderful. It’s a little bit too warm right now, but Ukraine’s gonna be a challenge. When I get there, I’m gonna definitely go see the family. Olga’s gonna have her wedding dress and show her mom that. Once we’ve done that, I’m gonna go to work. I’m hoping to meet up with Magnus, and I’m hoping to work with that evacuation crew. Magnus, my friend, now he’s in Kramatorsk, which is no longer the same city. There’s drones up and down the streets hunting people. We’d have to meet up further west than Kramatorsk, but he’s become a good friend, and I’ve been supporting him with a lot of his actions and training, and I just need to touch base with the guy. He’s living in hell, and I have to go see him.

Peter McCully: For our listeners who perhaps didn’t catch the first podcast, tell us about Magnus. Who is he?

Darrell McKay: Magnus is a Swedish gentleman about my age. I think he’s like 58. He’s got military training in Sweden, and at the start of the war, he hopped in his little work utility van and drove across Europe to Ukraine, and he managed to work his way into being a trainer. So he’s been training since the beginning of the war. He has lived in different locations where they’re inching backwards and backwards as the Russians move forward. I told him he reminds me of Shrek, and he just gets a big chuckle about that, and he’s just a giant of a man, both physically and his personality. He’s a giant. He’s a true hero. He has been working nonstop training Ukrainians to defend the country. He doesn’t have to be there, but he says that he’s got the skills and he’s gonna put them to use. He’s pretty amazing guy. He’s had his fair share of loss as well.

Peter McCully: We’ve chatted about this a number of times, Darrell. You’ve said that elderly evacuees are the hardest for you. Someone’s whole life reduced to a few plastic bags. Is there a person or a moment that has stayed with you that you could share with our listeners?

Darrell McKay: Oh, many. The 94-year-old lady that I met in the refugee centre, I met her twice. She’s burned into my head. I’ve got her photograph in my office. Just recently working on an evacuation crew, we had a minibus full of blind elderly that couldn’t get out, that we finally got them out of harm’s way. One of them, she just sat there, just looking into the blue sky. She couldn’t see, and she had to leave so quick she was only partially dressed. All of her stuff was in just one bag, and this poor woman has the rest of her life to live with nothing. I know she’ll be cared for and looked after, but to be chased from your home that you’ve lived in for 80 or 90 years, it’s gotta be horrible. When I was working for East SOS, the evacuation crew, there was this elderly couple that you could tell doted on each other. I watched them for a bit, wondering about their story. When we had an air raid, he’s grabbing her by the elbow and he’s walking her to the concrete bunker. There’s portable concrete bunkers on the evacuation site. I was taking a photograph of them because it was so raw. I got pictures of two drones flying overhead, and one blows up way above them, but it’s such a raw moment that they’re running from the drones as they’re being blown up.

Peter McCully: Darrell, you were talking about Magnus. You’ve trained and worked alongside other volunteers with various groups. Who are some of those groups, and what have you learned about the people who are volunteering to help in Ukraine?

Darrell McKay: One of the groups that I have the most experience with is Ukrainian Patriot. I did a lot of filming for a documentary, which is actually just being released. It’s called Ballerina on the Battlefield. The whole Ukrainian Patriot crew were amazing, Lana in particular, just incredible young lady. And there’s another group I’ve been working with, and I got in touch with them through Magnus, and they’re called Swallows Charity Organization. It’s two young girls. They can’t be more than 25 years old. They raise awareness, and they run first aid equipment right to the front line. So I’ve been earmarking a little bit of money for them every time I go back, and they’re very, very appreciative. They’re hard working, and but they’re these sweet young ladies, and they’re going up to the active war zone taking tourniquets and first aid kits, which are still needed. Five years down the road and we’re still doing the same stuff.

Peter McCully: Well, that brings up the point, Darrell, the war has been going on for years now with no clear end in sight. How do you and the other volunteers keep yourself up, keep yourself going?

Darrell McKay: Self-support, sense of humour, and then working with good people make it possible.

Peter McCully: I can’t help thinking that all the time that you spend in Ukraine volunteering and organizing, that this has changed you somehow.

Darrell McKay: It’s funny. It’s made me tougher and softer all at the same time. It makes me tough knowing sometimes you have to fight the enemy, but it makes me soft seeing the people that are hurting.

Peter McCully: What do you hope listeners take away from these stories that you share both on podcasts and in news stories and in your books?

Darrell McKay: I guess a call to action rather than sitting here talking about it and wishing you could help, actually stand up and help. There’s lots of ways that people can help, and I’m more than happy to be a conduit with that. You always post my Facebook on here, and if people do wanna help, yeah, contact.

Peter McCully: What do you need most for your trip to Ukraine this time around, Darrell, and what can listeners here on the island and elsewhere do to help before you go?

Darrell McKay: Well, cash is king, and most of the stuff that’s needed is in Ukraine, like all the medical stuff, Starlink Minis, computers. We can buy them there. It’s cash, and right now, with the help of Virginia, who I mentioned earlier, we’re up to about 8 or $9,000, which is significant. That’s gonna go a long ways, but there’s no limit. If I walked over there with $15,000, it would be spent on life-saving equipment and stuff to give the soldiers an upper hand. The Starlinks are lifelines. They save lives. They show exactly what’s going on. They show where the invaders are coming in. Right now, the death toll for Russia to Ukraine is like eight to one. That number’s gonna get way higher because Ukrainians, they have a third the population of Russia. We need to save the Ukrainian people. We need the war to be over so that the men can go back home and start having a productive, beautiful country like it was.

Peter McCully: Getting married is often a moment that people use to think about the future differently. How has it changed how you’re thinking about how much longer you’ll keep making these trips?

Darrell McKay: I have full support from Olga to do more trips. I always said I had 10 in me. This trip will be number nine. I can see number 10 coming up, and like I said, Olga is there for me. She knows what I do. Being married now, I got responsibility at home. It’s gonna be tough. It’s gonna be tough for sure.

Dave Graham: Darrell McKay, eight trips to Ukraine and a book called My Time with Heroes, and he’s already planning trip nine before trip eight is fully behind him. That’s not a phase. That’s a calling. You’ll find a link to Darrell’s FB page in our story notes at ThePulseCommunity.ca.

Peter McCully: Between Darrell and Duck, I think we’ve officially set the bar for what giving back looks like around here.

Dave Graham: Not many of us are in a place to be able to commit that heavily, but we are each able to give in our own way. Now, on a totally different note, I want to mention our Skookum Kid’s Stories featuring Captain Dave and the crew of the Mellow Submarine, also Peter and Gracie, the Eskimo Dog. And our kids stories now offer colouring pages to go along with each new episode. In this week’s episode of Peter and Gracie, the two have a great garden harvest.

Peter McCully: And our Radio Archaeology classic radio series features original episodes of Dragnet featuring Sergeant Joe Friday and Marshal Matt Dillon in Gunsmoke.

Dave Graham: As part of our PULSE Community podcasts, we invite you to join Cindy Thompson of Parksville for A Resilience Project. In this episode, Cindy speaks with Dr. Jodie Carrington, who has assessed, treated, educated, and empowered some of our most vulnerable and precious souls on the planet. As a child psychologist, Jodie rarely treats kids directly. She believes the answer lies in the big people who hold them.

Peter McCully: And Erin Haluschak and Chef Jonathan Frazier of the Comox Valley return to the PULSE podcast community with F3 Football, Food, and Fantasy.

Dave Graham: You’ll find these podcasts and more at ThePulseCommunity.ca.

Peter McCully: While you’re on the website, sign up for our weekly newsletter. It will keep you up to date on the latest podcasts, our guests, and contests.

Dave Graham: Wow, is that a wrap? Are we done already?

Peter McCully: Yes, it is, and yes, we are. Thank you for spending some time with us and for giving Duck and Darrell a listen today. On a day like this one, it just felt like the right pair of stories to tell.

Dave Graham: Agreed. And for the record, while my efforts to learn skating are by no means heroic in any stretch of the imagination, I like to think perhaps they provide some small form of humanitarian aid since I’m giving the entire rink something to laugh at.

Peter McCully: Well, that’s a bit of a stretch, but that’s one way to look at it.

Dave Graham: I like to think I’m helping. Okay, folks, thanks for listening. We’ll see you next week. Now, if you’ll help me get up, Peter, we can get out of here. I’m gonna go home and put ice on, well, pretty much everything.

Rockin’ Rhonda & The Uptown Blues Band: Here comes Peter, here comes Dave, oh listen. Bringing stories, making waves, no missing. Spinning tales in the podcast cave, so to speak. Laughs and insights everywhere - what a treat. Peter and Dave, they’re on the mics. All right, join the ride. It’s gonna feel just right.