Dad who left partner for Ukrainian refugee is now her full-time carer weeks later

A British man who left his partner for a Ukrainian refugee has given up work to become her full-time carer after she went partially blind.

Tony Garnett said it was the ‘right thing to do’ and defended his new lover, Sofiia Karkadym, saying: ‘She’s no homewrecker.’

Tony, 29, told Metro that his new flame had been unfairly accused of breaking up his relationship when they had fallen in love with each other.

He said a ‘weight has been lifted off our shoulders’ since they moved out of the home he had shared with his previous partner, Lorna, and into a rented house in Bradford, West Yorkshire.

The couple is weathering difficult financial times after she had an eye operation and the council said they need adaptations to their new accommodation before they can claim support under the Homes for Ukrainians scheme.

Tony, who owns a security company, said he had given up shift work to look after Sofiia, 22, who is partially blind in her right eye, and regards himself as her full-time carer.

He said: ‘People are painting her as a villain who has come to the UK and stolen a British man. Nothing could be further from the truth. It was a mutual decision.

‘It wasn’t as if we had met each other and decided then and there to move out. I was leaving regardless, because I’d had enough of Lorna, who took against Sofiia straight away.

‘There was a lot of drama and a lot of stress when we lived with Lorna.

‘Whenever I came home it was difficult for Sofiia and me to be around her at a time when we should have been helping a refugee make a new life here.

‘I just wanted to take Sofiia away and look after her, I wanted to help someone who was fleeing from Ukraine. She’s not a homewrecker.

‘I left to help her, and what happened after has happened, but it takes two to tango. She is being called a homewrecker on social media while I am having messages saying congratulations.

 

Tony also describes himself as a musician and is putting material together to share online based on his experiences of finding love with Sofiia.

He has promised on his Instagram channel that his music will tell ‘the truth’ about what happened.

The couple first moved out to his mum’s home, where he says they found the spark that led to global headlines, before moving into the rented property where they have taken in a Bengal cat.

They are looking to the future after the end of Tony’s ten-year relationship with Lorna, with whom he has two daughters aged three and six. They were not married but she had taken on his surname by deed poll.

Tony and Sofiia may now have to make a third move after the council visited the house as part of safeguarding checks under the scheme.

He said: ‘When we first moved into our own home together it was like a weight was lifted from our shoulders, there was so much stress as we looked to get a roof over our heads.

‘Now the council has been round and said we need a number of adaptations to the house, such as to the windows and fire escape.

‘If the landlady can’t do it we’ll need to find somewhere to live. But our long-term goal is still the same, we are hoping to go into business and make a life together.’

Sofiia, from the western city of Lviv, suffered an eye infection in Germany en-route to the UK. The condition, similar to an amoeba, has caused her to be partially blind and she will need six months to recover after an operation in England, Tony said.

The ex-tattoo artist told Metro they both have business plans for the future and Sofiia could work in beauty or IT as she completes the final modules of a university management qualification.

‘I’ve given up work to become her full-time carer,’ he said. ‘Because she hasn’t received a national insurance number yet and can’t work I’ve had to fund everything myself.

‘I don’t get anything for being her carer because she is not claiming benefits. It’s the right thing to do, I can’t be a man without looking after my woman. But it’s not about money, we just want to get on our own feet and start our new chapter in life as soon as possible.

‘Sofiia has been shocked at how bad some of the beauty salons are here and she wants to open a nail salon and I want to build the security business back up as we make a new life together.’

Lorna, 28, previously told The Sun on Sunday that Sofiia ‘decided she wanted him and she took him’. She has also said that her former guest ‘didn’t care about the devastation that was left behind’ and ‘this is how Sofiia has repaid me for giving her a home’.

Sofiia then said on social media that she ‘didn’t steal anyone from the family’ and press coverage was ‘clearly exaggerated and written in such a way as to be as dramatic as possible’.

She said the couple’s love was ‘real and wonderful’ as she spoke out on her Instagram account and thanked those who she said had supported the couple from the beginning.