Man who left partner for Ukrainian refugee plans to MARRY her

2022-07-07

EXCLUSIVE: ‘I want to propose to this beautiful lady’: Father-of-two, 29, who left partner of 10 years for Ukrainian refugee who came to live with them plans to MARRY her and start a family

EXCLUSIVE: Tony Garnett, 29, says he will marry Ukrainian Sofiia Karkadym
Refugee Ms Karkadym came to stay with Tony’s family after Russia’s invasion
But 22-year-old fell for Tony while staying with his family and his two children
Security guard Tony then left his partner and children to be with Ms Karkadym

The British father who ran off with a Ukrainian refugee when she came to live in his family home now plans to marry her, we can reveal.

And Tony Garnett said that he and Sofiia Karkadym, 22, also hope to have children together – if doctors can reverse the vasectomy he had after having two children with his previous partner.

Tony told MailOnline: ‘I want to propose to this beautiful lady,’

Sofiia added: ‘We are planning our life together. I want to be a mother. I want to have children.

‘I am a young woman so it can wait a few years and I hope that Tony can have his vasectomy reversed so that we can become a family together.’

Security guard Tony, 29, left the home he shared with his longtime partner Lorna and their two young daughters to start a new life with Sofiia just ten days after she arrived from war torn Ukraine to start a new life in Britain.

The British father who ran off with a Ukrainian refugee (pictured togehter) when she came to live in his family home now plans to marry her, we can reveal

Tony Garnett said that he and Sofiia Karkadym (pictured together), 22, also hope to have children together – if doctors can reverse the vasectomy he had after having two children with his previous partner

Security guard Tony, 29, left the home he shared with his longtime partner Lorna (pictured) and their two young daughters to start a new life with Sofiia just ten days after she arrived from war torn Ukraine to start a new life in Britain

The new couple have now known each other for just two months but are already making plans to visit Sofiia’s family back in Ukraine so that Tony can formally ask her father for his daughter’s hand in marriage.

Tony said: ‘I want to say that out of Putin’s evil has come something really good for me and her.’

Tony said he will formally propose once their situation is more stable: ‘I want to make it special so we’re just going to wait until we have found somewhere proper to live where we can settle.’

And in a less traditional move Tony, who has worked as a tattooist, proposes to mark their planned union by giving Sofiia an inking reading ‘Queen’ to go with the ‘King’ tattoo he already has on his neck.

Sofiia said: ‘I want to be his queen or his princess. I love him very much. I can’t wait for us to get married.’

He said: ‘I want to make it so special and so romantic for her. We’ve talked about marriage and that doesn’t mean that I can’t surprise her with the proposal. I’ll make it one that she will never forget.

Tony said he and his bride-to-be would visit her father Ilya, 46, an antiques dealer in Ukraine as soon as it was safe to do so.

‘She doesn’t quite understand it. But I’ve explained to her that it is a respectful thing that British men do to go and ask a girl‘s father for her hand in marriage.’

He went on: ‘The reaction to us being a couple has just been mad! I picked up 5,000 Instagram followers yesterday and she got 7,000 for no reason at all. People are fascinated with us.’

But the couple’s social media reception has not been all pleasant.

The new couple (pictured) have now known each other for just two months but are already making plans to visit Sofiia’s family back in Ukraine so that Tony can formally ask her father for his daughter’s hand in marriage

Tony (pictured) said he will formally propose once their situation is more stable: ‘I want to make it special so we’re just going to wait until we have found somewhere proper to live where we can settle.’

Tony said he and his bride-to-be would visit her father Ilya, 46, an antiques dealer in Ukraine as soon as it was safe to do so

The 29-year-old told The Sun that he and his new love have incurred a torrent of hateful abuse online over their decision, while some people threatened to try and get Sofiia deported

Tony said: ‘We’ve had some quite horrible stuff posted about us on Instagram and other social media.

‘But these people are just morons and cannot understand how people can fall in love even if it is only been a short time that they’ve known each other.’

The couple was shocked to find abusive messages left for them online with Sofiia being branded a homewrecker.

She said: ‘The news about Tony and me has reached Ukraine and my family called me and said they were very upset and at one stage they said they were never going to talk to me again.

‘But I have explained to them that Tony was not married and that we innocently fell in love and this is a permanent thing.’

‘I was upset that my family read the stories that say a Ukrainian girl had gone to Britain and stolen somebody’s husband.

‘I am worried that the Russians will use this as propaganda to try and show the Ukrainians cause trouble wherever they go.

He said: ‘I decided that I wanted to take a refugee from Ukraine because I just want to do something meaningful and good.

‘I kept thinking if England had been invaded they would be people hopefully who would take my children in other countries to safety. We all have to do our part.

‘When I went to pick up Sofiia at Manchester Airport, I had no other motive than to make her feel welcome and comfortable and safe.

‘The first thing I did was take her to a McDonald’s drive-through where we had a Big Mac and got chatting.

‘I realised she spoke English quite well and that meant we could be friends as well.

‘On another day I took her back and she asked for a burger and beer which is apparently what they can do back in Ukraine. It made me really laugh.’

Sofiia Karkadym (pictured) arrived in the UK at the start of May after fleeing the war in Ukraine

Just 10 days after moving in with the Garnett family, Sofiia (pictured) and lover Tony moved out

The IT manager (pictured) is now renting a property in Bradford with Garnett after he left his partner and kids

The mother of Tony’s kids, Lorna, ordered Sofiia to leave and accused the IT worker of making passes at her husband, but Garnett decided to pack his bags and leave with his new lodger.

Tony insists that Sofiia’s arrival in his life was not the cause of his break up with the mother of his two children: ‘ Lorna and I hadn’t been getting on very well. I have moved out a couple of times and really we were living as friends and parents to our daughters, who we both love.

‘We never got married because it wasn’t something that I was interested in with her and I didn’t want to have any more kids, which is why I had a vasectomy even though I was only in my mid 20s.

‘The doctor tried to talk me out of it saying that it would be unfair on my partner and that I might change my mind in later years.

‘But when I had it done I wasn’t with her, so they agreed to do it. Now of course I wished I hadn’t because I really wanna have children with Sofiia.

‘She also doesn’t understand why I had a vasectomy. But both of us are praying that it can be undone and we can have our own children.’

Tony is currently caring for Sofiia as she has an eye problem.

Tony said:‘Sofiia picked up an infection while on Germany and it got really bad when she arrived at Manchester Airport. She had an operation on it a few weeks back.

‘She can only see partially through it at the moment and that’s a bit worrying. But the doctors have said it will take six months for it to heal properly.

‘She has just got a National Insurance number which will help with treatment.’

Sofiia arrived at Tony’s family home in Bradford, West Yorkshire, on May 4th after fleeing the conflict in her native Ukraine, but within days the pair had developed a connection.

Sofiia, who left behind her divorced parents, a stepfather and 13-year-old sister Elizabeth, said she loved the Yorkshire accents but was struggling to understand some of the terms.

‘I don’t understand why people call each other “ love” or say things like “I’ll see you later“.

‘ I thought they said they would come to your house when they said they would see you later!

‘But Tony explained to me that this is just the way that people talk around here. It’s cool with me.’

She said she had lost family and friends to the brutal invasion by Russia and decided to leave her country when she lost her job as an IT manager when her boss had to go and fight with the defence forces.

‘I also lost my home because the rent went up really high and the landlady wanted to put some of her family into the room.

‘So I had nowhere to live and no job and the war was going on around me.

‘I thought “I must get out of Ukraine “ and then I saw that I could come to Britain on the Internet and Tony and I began exchanging messages. I’m glad I made that decision. ‘

The 29-year-old told said that he and his new love have incurred a torrent of hateful abuse online over their decision, while some people threatened to try and get Sofiia deported.

His relationship with his ex partner Lorna has also soured and he said he had been in contact with lawyers to gain proper time to see his children.

Source: Read Full Article