Devoted Coleen has told how her four boys inspired her to meet with displaced families suffering because of the years-long Russian invasion
Coleen Rooney today revealed she thought of her children as she made a mercy dash to meet bombed-out kids left devastated by Vladmir Putin’s bloodthirsty war in Ukraine.
The devoted mum, 39, told how she was inspired by her four boys – Kai, 15, Klay, 12, Kit, nine, and Cass, seven – as she jetted into Poland to meet families who fled their homes as the conflict erupted. And the former I’m A Celebrity… star, 39, revealed she thought of her adopted sister, Rosie, who died aged 14 in 2013 after a lifelong battle with Rett syndrome, as she met disabled refugee kids. The war in Ukraine has displaced families at a scale and speed not seen since World War Two.
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Almost nine million people have fled into Poland since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 2022. And during a trip to a UNICEF Educational Rehabilitation School, Coleen met fitness coach Kateryna and her seven-year-old son, Murat, who has learning difficulties and is unable to speak.
They fled Nikolayev – the frontline of Volodymyr Zelenskyy defense against Putin’s brutal regime – and made a two-day bus trip of nearly 700 miles to find safety in Krakow.
Speaking exclusively to the Mirror about her encounter with stricken mothers forced from their homes, Coleen said: “As a mum, your first thought was what would you do? What goes through your mind is just to protect the children and make sure that they are OK. And that’s exactly what these mum’s were doing, they got out of Ukraine.
“I spoke to one lovely mum, Kateryna, who said a tank blew up outside her house. They had their son behind double walls in the house so that if anything hit the house, they were protected by the outer wall.”
“She showed me videos of what was happening and that resonates with you, because of that protective instinct.” She added: “I can relate to being a mum and the first thing in that situation is to get out of danger, to just make sure the kids are OK. But I couldn’t imagine what was going through their heads, the emotions.”
Almost 1.6 million refugees are in Poland and around 90 per cent of them are women and children. Exclusive footage given to the Mirror shows children swarming over Coleen as she met children at a UNICEF centre catering for disabled youngsters.
And today Coleen, who tied the knot with football legend Wayne Rooney, 39, in 2008, told how the trip evoked memories of her beloved younger sister, Rosie. Coleen said: “One of the schools was for children with disabilities. And I grew up in that environment, my sister went to a school like that.
“It was just like where they were, with music therapy, physiotherapy and all those things for the sensors. I felt so comfortable, it wasn’t a shock. That was probably the easiest visit of my time in Poland.”
“Because I’ve experienced that and I felt comfortable there.” Coleen also visited a Spilno Hub, in Krakow, which supports families who’ve fled the war, providing psycho-social support to help them deal with the horrors of war. She met Yuliia, her sister Olisia and Yuliia’s daughter Anastasiia – known as Nastia, aged four.
They have been in Krakow for three years, travelling from Kryvvi Rih on an evacuation train carrying just a backpack each. As they fled they turned their phones off to help them go undetected by missiles.
Now Coleen has told how the trip helped “open her eyes” to the reality of war and the devastating impact it has. Coleen said: “I wouldn’t say it’s affected me, but it’s given me a big insight into what’s going on around the world and the aftermath. You know, you think it is over, it’s not. These people have been hit with trauma and it’s hard for them to move on.
“They’re doing what they can but it could affect them for their entire lives. That’s what struck me, we see things on the news, but we don’t think that much into it.”
“It was a real eye opener to see the disruption to people’s lives.” She added: “It’s quite a humbling thing to see.
“But I think the great thing is that despite the tragedies there are people that are willing to go above and beyond for people out there.”
But despite the harrowing trauma suffered by children during the conflict, Coleen said the mental care they were receiving was paying dividends.
She added: “There was one place we visited and what really stuck with me was, they showed me all the artwork the children had done when they had initially arrived from Ukraine.
“There were lots of dark colours and it was really quite moody and it was quite upsetting to see. But after being there for a while they clearly lifted and the artwork was full of lots of colour. The children have been receiving therapy and it shows that it really works.” Coleen visited Krakow with UNICEF to see how donations to the Soccer Aid charity game support refugee children.
Husband and ex-Man United and England legend Wayne is taking on a player-manager role alongside the likes of comedian Paddy McGuinness, Olympic hero Sir Mo Farah and One Direction star Louis Tomlinson.
Coleen said: “Soccer Aid is a big part of our family, it’s been a yearly thing in the calendar for the last, I don’t know how many years. And my boys love attending and Wayne obviously is involved so we’re looking forward to seeing him. And then my youngest Cass is going to be one of the mascots, so it’s a real family affair.”
Soccer Aid for UNICEF 2025 will take place on Sunday June 15 at Old Trafford, and will be shown live exclusively on ITV1, ITVX, STV and STV Player.
To donate to Soccer Aid for UNICEF – which raised £15million last year – visit socceraid.org.uk/donate