Irish student Racheal Diyaolu plans to split funds raised to get her home between her Ukraine rescue heroes and Irish aid charities.
The 19-year-old revealed the gesture on social media saying she wanted to “personally thank” the public for their support.
Racheal said she would donate half the €4,614 raised on GoFundMe to Scottish volunteers Joe McCarthy, 55, and 45-year-old Gary Taylor who got her safely to the EU border. The other half will go to the Irish Red Cross and Unicef Ireland.
Carlow student Rachael was studying medicine in the Ukrainian city of Sumy when war broke out, forcing her to shelter underground.
She touched down on Irish soil on Thursday night thanks to the help of landscape gardeners Joe and Gary who travelled to Ukraine on a rescue mission.
She said in a TikTok video: “I just want to personally thank everyone for all the support and love that they’ve shown me across my journey.
“I wouldn’t have made it back without you guys.
“I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who donated towards the GoFundMe.”
Her sister Christiana added: “In total we raised €4,614.62 cent after fees.”
Racheal continued: “We’ve decided to donate half of the proceeds to Joe and Gary because without them I wouldn’t be here, so they can continue to help people get to the border safely in Ukraine.”
Her sister added: “The other half will be split between two Irish charities, The Irish Red Cross and Unicef Ireland.”
Rachael explained on Friday’s Late Late Show how she had considered going home when the Government had first asked Irish citizens to leave.
But she was told by her university that school was “continuing as normal” and they felt warnings of an invasion were exaggerated.
She said: “That day all the flights were cancelled. I had a flight booked for this Sunday to come back home but that was completely cancelled.
“At that point it was panic mode.”
Brave Racheal told how brave duo, who run Ready2Rock landscaping in Falkirk, had their truck shot at and were held at gunpoint by Russian troops.
She said she was worried they wouldn’t come back to pick her up after the terrifying ordeal.
But she said: “The amazing men that they are, they decided that, no, they will stick it out.
“Mission Impossible is what they called it, and they were ready to accomplish it.”
The group travelled for three days to cross the border. Rachael eventually boarded a flight from Frankfurt, Germany, to Dublin at the end of her fourth day of travel.Her sister Christiana added: “In total we raised €4,614.62 cent after fees.”
Racheal continued: “We’ve decided to donate half of the proceeds to Joe and Gary because without them I wouldn’t be here, so they can continue to help people get to the border safely in Ukraine.”
Her sister added: “The other half will be split between two Irish charities, The Irish Red Cross and Unicef Ireland.”
Rachael explained on Friday’s Late Late Show how she had considered going home when the Government had first asked Irish citizens to leave.
But she was told by her university that school was “continuing as normal” and they felt warnings of an invasion were exaggerated.
She said: “That day all the flights were cancelled. I had a flight booked for this Sunday to come back home but that was completely cancelled.
“At that point it was panic mode.”
Brave Racheal told how brave duo, who run Ready2Rock landscaping in Falkirk, had their truck shot at and were held at gunpoint by Russian troops.
She said she was worried they wouldn’t come back to pick her up after the terrifying ordeal.
But she said: “The amazing men that they are, they decided that, no, they will stick it out.
“Mission Impossible is what they called it, and they were ready to accomplish it.”
The group travelled for three days to cross the border. Rachael eventually boarded a flight from Frankfurt, Germany, to Dublin at the end of her fourth day of travel.
