A romantic wartime drama. An English couple, due to the man’s “altruistic” impulse, took in a Ukrainian refugee, and just 10 days later -but intense-, he left with her and left behind the family he had built during the last decade.
It all happened between April and May, when Tony Garnett (29 years)a security guard at a British health service facility, signed up for the government’s scheme to provide shelter for people forced to leave Ukraine. Lorna (28)her partner, with whom she has two small daughters -6 and 3 years old-, was never very convinced of the idea.
“This started with a simple desire of mine to do the right thing and give a roof to someone who needs it, a man or a woman,” the man tells the tabloid The Sun.
But considering that the process was too slow, he decided to do it on his own and offered help through social networks: there he was contacted by Sofia Karkadym (22), who fled Lviv at the start of the war, transited through Poland to Germany and from Berlin, where he waited for weeks for his British visa to be processed, flew to England, to move into Tony and Lorna’s home in Bradford, West Yorkshire county .
“It was a horrible time. I never wanted to leave, but we had no choice. I am so happy that I found Tony and finally feel safe.Sofiia says now. Although she was willing to help anyone, “it was Sofiia who came into my life and that is something I will always be grateful for,” says Tony.
THE “INNOCENT” FLIRTING THAT RUINED A FAMILY
Sofia’s immediate arrival caused tensions in the couple and, over Lorna’s objections, to make room, Tony moved his six-year-old daughter from her room to a bunk with her three-year-old sister.
And in the midst of that and while they lived together, Tony and Sofiia assure that they fell in love, and that the girls also formed a bond with her, something that Lorna resented. “as soon as i saw it i liked itSofia remembers.
“It is obvious that with Sofia we ‘clicked’ from the beginning“, says Tony, recounting how they got closer: “I speak a little Slovak and it is not very different from Ukrainian, so I was able to understand her in her language; that made things worse because Lorna didn’t know what we were talking regarding. Sofia and I would sit and talk, have drinks and watch TV with Ukrainian subtitles, sometimes following Lorna had gone to bed.”
“We got along really well, but at the time it was just that, although I can see why Lorna started to feel jealous and resentful towards her,” she adds.
At one point Sofiia even started accompanying him to the gym, following which they sat in his car in a parking lot: “We talked and laughed while looking at the city. I knew that something was thinking between us and Sofia felt the sameIt was something that none of us might stop,” says Tony.
As if that were not enough, “at home we were looking for excuses to touch and rub once morest each other, it was very flirtatious but at that stage nothing else happened”, he continues, “although it was quite innocentwas causing arguments.”
And one day, “he told me in private: ‘Lorna is lucky to have you’“, he emphasizes.
THE END OF A 10-YEAR RELATIONSHIP
In that scenario, according to Tony, “Lorna started to get very jealous and was having big arguments with Sofiia, asking her why she was with me all the time; things were getting really bad and Sofiia told me that she didn’t know if she might continue living with us in these circumstances.
Until everything ended up falling apart. “It came to a head last Saturday when she really (Lorna) went for Sofiia, yelling at her, using harsh language that left her in tears. She said that she didn’t feel like (Sofiia) might stay under our roof anymore and something inside me clicked“, he recounts.
Given this, “I told Lorna: ‘If she leaves, I leave’. He knew he mightn’t give her up and suddenly it seemed like a no-brainer. We both packed our bags and we moved in together at my mom and dad’s house“.
Today, “we are sorry for the pain we have caused, but I have discovered a connection with Sofia like never before,” says Tony, assuring that, even, “we’re planning the rest of our lives together (…) we know this is correct.”
“I am very sorry for what Lorna is going through, this was not her fault and it was not regarding anything she did wrong, we never set out to do this, it was not planned and we did not mean to hurt anyone,” he defends.
“It has been very fast, but this is our love story. I know that people will think badly of me, but it happens. I might see how unhappy Tony was“says Sofiia in turn.
Thus, Lorna, who had even changed her last name to use Tony’s, saw the end of a decade-long relationship. “She is absolutely devastated. She was with Tony for 10 years and in the space of 10 days her family has been torn apart.“, expresses, for his part, a friend of the woman to The Sun.
