HUGS Ukraine and Canadian volunteer soldier, Mac Hughes, is recovering from 3rd degree burns.

When Canadian Mac Hughes appeared in Raw Travel TV's documentary, "My Summer in Ukraine," he was a humanitarian volunteer working alongside his father, Paul, at the NGO Paul had founded, HUGS Ukraine (Helping Ukraine Grassroots Support).

However, after witnessing atrocity after atrocity committed by the ruzzian war machine against Ukrainian civilians, Mac decided to join the fight.

Initially, I was a tad surprised that Mac, a soft-spoken Canadian, would join the military. Then I remembered how much danger he'd already faced as a volunteer (ruzzia targets volunteers almost as much or more than they do the military), and his father's own courageous background.

Mac’s father, Paul Hughes, was a member of the Canadian military and was once a candidate for mayor of Calgary. He's a successful farmer, grassroots organizer, entrepreneur, and narrowly escaped death after being captured by ruzzian forces when rescuing a young Ukrainian girl early in the war. If it had happened later in the war, he probably would have been tortured and killed.

Paul founded HUGs Ukraine shortly after the full-scale invasion in 2022 and has remained in Ukraine ever since. "Too much to do," he says. I've witnessed the good work HUGS Ukraine does personally each year in my trips to Kharkiv, Ukraine in 2023, 2024, and 2025

Like his father, Mac is made of tough, resilient, stubborn stuff, and he would need to be. About three months into his service as a drone pilot, Mac and his team were hit with three massive (the size of an SUV) Iranian-made Shahed drones.

Mac's foot was pinned under a truck carrying gallons of diesel fuel. A puddle of flaming diesel formed next to the truck and began moving toward him. He couldn't free his foot, and it looked like the end of the road for Mac.

His teammates were also injured but were trying to lift the truck off him just as Mac caught on fire. As they worked to free him, Mac was in agony and begged them to shoot him, but a final, miraculous push freed his foot, and they were able to extinguish Mac and evacuate him. He has second- and third-degree burns from the waist down.

I was able to visit Mac twice in a Kyiv hospital in July. Mac was in great spirits, considering what he'd been through, and I am happy to report that after multiple skin grafts and physical therapy, his recovery is going well. He's in a wheelchair and has even taken a few tentative steps despite the bottom of his feet sustaining third-degree burns.

However, he lost everything in the attack — his laptop, phone, and personal belongings — and his recovery will be long, arduous, and expensive.

If you'd like to help Mac, please visit this link

The CBC did an excellent feature on Mac, which I have included below.