London taxi driver leads convoy of cabbies to Poland to collect Ukrainian refugees
"Her eyes lit up": Tap above to watch London taxi driver Matt Westfall tell Charlene White about the mission to transport Ukrainian refugees from Poland.
A London taxi driver who led a convoy of black cabs transporting Ukrainian refugees from Poland has said the experience changed him forever.
Matt Westfall, 52, raised more than £11,000 to get six black cabs, one car, and one van across to Poland to deliver humanitarian aid to refugee camps set up near the Ukrainian border, and transport refugees trying to reach cities across Europe.
Mr Westfall, who has been a taxi driver in London for 11 years, arrived home on Wednesday and said “there are no words” to describe the four-day trip.
“I’ve not got a big enough vocabulary to tell you how I felt,” said the 52-year-old from Buckhurst Hill, Essex.
“Pain, heartbreak, relief… It changed me forever.
“I can’t comprehend what they’ve been through, all I can do is try and smile and do what I can for them… There’s no words.”
Mr Westfall decided to launch a GoFundMe for the cause when he saw a video of a Ukrainian father saying an emotional goodbye to his young family as he left them to enlist in the military.
With the help of more than £6,700 donated by strangers on the fundraising site and contributions from the London Taxi Drivers’ Association and Eclipse Rent-A-Taxi, Mr Westfall set off on Sunday with a group of taxi drivers he had recruited for the task.
The group drove 13 hours to Warsaw, Poland where they delivered aid such as sanitary products, baby food, nappies, and toilet roll, and picked up two families per vehicle to drive back across the continent.
With money donated to the GoFundMe, Mr Westfall was able to pay and put a few of the refugees they transported up in a hotel, allowing them to wash and eat.
He described the emotional conversation he had with a Ukrainian mother he took to Munich with her young daughter.
“This little dot, she didn’t want to talk… She looked very grey and pasty and tired,” he said.
“Her mum said, ‘I’m quite worried really, she’s not eaten, not drunk anything.’
“So my mate got down on his knee and said: ‘I know what all kids like… McDonalds’.”
“Her little eyes just lit up like switching on a light and it was just amazing… Her little face lit up and all of sudden we had a different little girl on our hands.
“It was amazing moment that summed up the journey, it was worth it just for that one little moment.”
He helped the family stay in a hotel and they have now reached their relatives in Munich.
Mr Westfall hopes to make the journey again when he is able to.