The family of a man who died in detention in Ukraine are hoping for "closure" by bringing his body home.
Paul Urey's family are hoping to get "closure" by raising the £10,000 needed to bring his body back home to Warrington after he died in detention in Ukraine. Mr Urey, 45, was working as an aid worker in the war-torn country when he was detained by Russian-backed separatists at a checkpoint in April.
The dad, who had a heart condition, was reportedly trying to evacuate a mum and her two children along with fellow aid worker Dylan Healy when he was stopped and accused of being a mercenary. He died in detention in July. Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said his body showed " signs of possible unspeakable torture ".
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Mr Urey's family, including his heartbroken daughter Chelsea Coman, 20, and her sister Courtney, 17, now want to bring his body back to Warrington, where he was born. But Chelsea said she was shocked by how much it would cost to repatriate their dad.
Chelsea said her dad was about to be taken over the border to Poland, from where he could be repatriated to Manchester Airport if the money could be raised. The 20-year-old, from Audenshaw, told CheshireLive : "The Foreign and Commonwealth Office told us it would be approximately £8-10,000 to bring him home and we were thinking where are we going to get that from. We don't have that sort of money.
"We are only 20 and 17 and it's a lot of money. I'm not working and my sister is at college. My stepdad suggested doing a GoFundMe fundraiser. It's really overwhelming to see the impact this has had on so many people who are donating to our GoFundMe. People from all over the world have donated and we don't even know them. We don't know how to thank them enough.
"We want to have some hope and to bring him home and give him a burial and send off here in the UK with people who love him and to celebrate his life. Any donations no matter how small or large they may be will be much appreciated by me and my father's family. We are so upset but we will get closure when he comes home and we can lay him to rest."
Chelsea added a post-mortem would take place when Mr Urey's body returned to the UK ahead of a funeral service and cremation in Warrington. She said her dad was inspired to go to Ukraine as "he didn't like people struggling and he wanted to do the best he could in this situation".
And in terms of the toll this was taking on her family, she said: "We have tried to keep ourselves occupied and focused on raising the money. We are trying to keep going. If we were to sit down and do nothing then that's when we would think about it the most."
She said that she took some comfort from the fact that her dad, who was adopted at birth, had been reunited with his birth mother in the year prior to his death, saying this "meant a lot to him".
To donate to the GoFundMe, visit gofund.me/2a08afdf.
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