All he was carrying was a plastic bag, a red backpack and his passport. He also had an emergency phone number written on his hand.
His name is Hassan and he managed to make it to Slovakia, 750 miles away from his home in southeastern Ukraine to escape the fighting.
As Hassan took his brave journey across Ukraine, his mother, Julia Pisecka, was being brave at home.
Hassan’s journey was helped by groups providing food and drink to refugees along the way. Slovakia’s Ministry of Interior said Hassan charmed volunteers with his unbelievable resilience everywhere he went.
In a video, Pisecka, who is a widow, thanked everyone for taking care of her son and explained why she let Hassan go on his own.
She said – “Next to my town is a power plant that the Russians are shelling. I couldn’t leave my mum – she can’t move by herself – so I sent my son to Slovakia.”
Hassan is now one of more than 10 million refugees who have fled their homes since the beginning of the war, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
No doubt there have likely been dozens of heroic refugee stories like Hassan’s. Still, his journey is an important reminder of the need for peace and how resilient we all can be.