A 22-year-old former community care worker from Cornwall has been killed fighting for Ukraine, his family have announced.
Callum Tindal-Draper, from Gunnislake, died while defending an observation post on Ukraine’s eastern front line on Nov 5, Caroline Tindal, his mother, said.
He fought until he could no longer hold off the advancing Russians, Ms Tindal said, adding his platoon described him as a “hero” and “as brave as they come”.
Before volunteering in the Ukrainian International Legion, Tindal-Draper worked at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth and as a carer in the community.
Tindal-Draper’s family said they had “begged him not to go to Ukraine”, but they were all “so proud” of the person he had become after volunteering with Ukraine forces.
Steven Draper, Callum’s father, said: “We begged and begged and begged him not to go. But Callum said, ‘Dad, I’m not frightened of bullies and what’s going on in Ukraine is awful and someone needs to stand up for these people’.”
Describing her son after visiting him in Ukraine in September, Ms Tindall said: “It was such a transformation and he said to me ‘mum, coming out here was the best thing that ever happened to me, I’ve found who I was meant to be’.
“He found who he was meant to be, he became that person and he lived it.”
When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Tindal-Draper was attending a uniformed services preparation course at the Duchy College Military and Protective Services Academy in Cornwall.
The college described Tindal-Draper as a “model student” who did not shy away from causes he believed in.
It said he had been “instrumental” in collecting three minibus loads of humanitarian equipment for Ukrainian civilians after Russia’s full-scale attack on the country.
The college went on to say Tindal-Draper “truly believed in his sense of duty” and that this led him to work in the NHS and to sign up to defend Ukraine.
The Foreign Office said: “We are aware that a British national has reportedly died in Ukraine and stand ready to assist the family in the UK.”
It urged people not to travel to Ukraine while the country is in conflict with Russia.
