£21,000 raised for Ukrainian girl left orphaned after A61 crash in Ripon

A fundraiser set up for a Ukrainian girl who has been left orphaned following the death of her mother and siblings in a crash has raised more than £21,000 in three days.

Daria Bartienieva, a 35, died along with her six-year-old son and teenage step-daughter in a crash involving two cars and a bus on the A61 near Ripon on Sunday, 3 September.

Ms Bartienieva's other daughter, 15-year-old Liza, was not involved in the incident. It is understood her father died earlier this year in Ukraine.

The local community has now rallied round in support of Liza, who is living with a friend of her mother.

Donna Chilcott, who works with the woman looking after Liza, set up an online fundraiser and said had been "massively surprised" by the response after it topped £15,000.

"The amount of messages and well wishes from people I don't even known has been amazing. Everyone who has been so generous," she said.

"Ripon is almost like a family - everybody knows everybody else and we all look out for each other."

Dozens of tributes have been left by contributors on the fundraising page.

Becky Naylor wrote: "So hard to comprehend how Liza must be feeling, absolutely devastating for her, the family and friends."

Susie Cox added: "No money will be able to replace what she’s lost but hopefully this will help her in some way and she knows that the people of Ripon are there for her."

A fundraiser is due to be held at the Black Swan pub in Ripon this weekend.

Donna added: "We're just trying to do whatever we can. It's heartbreaking, isn't it, to think that your entire family is gone just like that."

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