It's been four years since Russia invaded Ukraine, but for one Canadian, it feels like it happened yesterday.
Ed Dickson of Leamington has called Ukraine "home" for years, though he's been travelling back and forth between the country and Canada regularly since the invasion began.
He left Ukraine just before the invasion, thinking that everything would calm down. To this day, he still remembers hearing what he thought was impossible actually happened.
After getting over the initial shock, Dickson started to think that the conflict would be over quickly.
"No one in Ukraine thought this was going to go on for four years. Even the thought of it going on for a couple of weeks made my heart drop into my stomach," he explained.
Despite this, Dickson continues to travel back to Ukraine.
His work with Loads of Love, a Chatham-based humanitarian organization, is what keeps calling him back. In the past four years, he and his team have helped deliver groceries to over 300,000 families, many of which are living in the most war-torn areas of Ukraine.
While he himself only visits the harder hit areas occasionally, he's still received the full war experience.
"We had a missile come down about 500 metres from where we were driving in our car, and I'll tell you that I've never felt anything like that in my life. It really was a bizarre feeling," added Dickson.
He was extremely jumpy the next few days, with any sudden noises scaring him.
To this day, Dickson has people question why he continues to visit Ukraine. While his work is his main driver, the interactions with the Ukrainian people play a huge part.
"I was in a restaurant a while ago, and a lady came up to me that I didn't know and she said, 'Where are you from?' and I said, 'I'm from Canada' and she was just like, 'what are you doing here, why would you come here?' and I just said that I came here so that people know that there are people in Canada who care. And she started to weep, she was just weeping standing there at the table and then she told me that I couldn't imagine how much that means to us," said Dickson.
He explained that stories like this are common. They also help him get the motivation needed to continue coming back to support those in need.
