An archaeology student has praised staff at Aberdeen university for helping him return home during the coronavirus pandemic.
Jakub Orlicek feared he wouldn’t be able to go back to Slovakia after the country’s government closed its borders at the start of the Covid-19 crisis.
On April 1, he contacted the Slovakian government appealing for help and was told a flight had been arranged to depart from Aberdeen the following day.
Mr Orlicek was asked to collect as many Slovak students as possible to join him but at such short notice, he feared he would be unable to get the message out in time.
After contacting the AUSA Slovak and Czech Society, he asked the archaeology department for help and they sent a message out asking for any Slovak students to respond.
The third-year student said: “As this happened on April 1, it was a bit more difficult to convince people it wasn’t a joke.
“But thanks to the help of everyone at the university, nine of us were able to catch the flight the next day.
“Now most of us are at home with our families, although we are still under quarantine because we’ve recently returned from abroad.”
Praising everyone who helped, Mr Olicek said staff had gone “above and beyond” to help students stuck in Aberdeen in recent weeks.
“They fully committed themselves to helping us, providing shopping essentials and checking in on us every day,” he said.
“I never expected such enormous help and I’m incredibly proud and grateful to them.
“In the end we are all one big family here at Aberdeen University.”
