Editors Note - KRIS 6 News recently learned that a person featured in this article, Darcy Trett, is facing a federal charge of trafficking child pornography.
- Darcy Trett wants to help Kulynych family escape war in Ukraine
- They helped him out last year when he fell off a roof in Ukraine
- Trett and the Kulynych's are like family now
Darcy Trett, a long-time Port Aransas resident, is doing everything he can to help the Kulynych family in Ukraine seek refuge in Port Aransas.
Trett met the Kulynych's in a Ukrainians Seeking Assistance group on the international messaging app, Telegram about two years ago right after Russia invaded Ukraine.
He traveled to their house in Ukraine in 2023 to help repair the roof and walls. The two bedroom house for the family of seven was falling apart.
"Something had told me that I should help someone else since I’ve had a blessed life. Once I actually went to Ukraine and I met the family, they became very close to my heart. Especially after literally taking care of me for three weeks," Trett said.
While Trett was on day 5 of repairing their home, he fell off the roof.
"So, while I was on the roof trying to repair the leak, which the roof is metal, I slipped on a wet spot and I actually ended up falling off their roof," Trett said.
He suffered multiple injuries and was temporarily unable to walk.
"I had a severely injured my hip. I tore a groin muscle and I tore an abductor muscle. And basically, I stayed in the hospital for five days. Also, my kidneys were swelling," Trett said.
He then was bedridden in a Ukrainian hotel room for three weeks—but he was not alone. The Kulynychs did everything they could to help nurse him back to health.
“Every day the mother would either cook food, or would go to the hotel restaurant and bring me breakfast from there, and the same thing for lunch and dinner. Anytime I needed any medication, the family would go to the pharmacy for me and bring it to me," Trett said.
Trett was so grateful for their love and care when he was weak and injured, so he made a promise.
“In return for them assisting me while I was in a foreign country and I was very nervous about the current situation and not being able to do anything, I made the promise to the Kulynych Family that I would do all I could to try to get them out of the war zone and into the USA," Trett said.
Trett is currently well underway in the process of trying to bring the Kulynych family to the United States to live with him in Port Aransas.
Trett said that he is trying to get them here legally in one of two ways. The first option is that apply to be their sponsor through the organization, Uniting for Ukraine, so they can live, work, and go to school here in Texas. The second option is to get them 180-day travel Visa's so that they could at least live here temporarily. Trett has filled out travel Visa applications for every member of the family that is eligable to leave the country, paid all fees, and he had multiple meetings with lawyers in Corpus Christi.
Trett and the Kulynych family will meet on Friday, February 23 at 8:30 am in Warsaw, Poland at the U.S. Embassy for the tourist Visa interview, because the U.S. embassy in Ukraine is currently closed.
Trett says that he would not be where he is in the process of getting them here without the support of his Port Aransas community.
“So far, the Episcopal Church has donated $2000, and Miss Sally at Gratitude has donated $500 and Bron at Bron’s Beach Carts is the one that paid for the tourist application fees," Trett said.
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