John Cena Makes a Special Visit to Teenager Who Fled Ukraine

By
PWMania.com Staff
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(Photo Credit: WWE)

WWE Superstar John Cena traveled to the Netherlands on Saturday to meet with a young fan who fled Ukraine with his mother when the Russia-Ukraine war heated up a few weeks ago. A message was also delivered to Alexa Bliss by the fan.

On June 5, Ukrainian teenager Misha Rohozhyn and his mother Liana met Cena in Huizen, a town west of Amsterdam, as seen in the video below. Misha and his family fled Mariupol, one of the worst-affected cities, when their home was destroyed during the conflict.

Misha’s mother informed him that they were going to find Cena to motivate him to finish the journey across Europe to safety. The WWE Legend learned about their story and changed his plans to meet them, even though he was only a one-hour flight away and already in London, England for filming.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Misha, 19, has Down syndrome and is nonverbal. Misha stayed in his bedroom after landing in the Netherlands last month, puzzled by his new surroundings and irritated with his mother since they hadn’t found Cena yet.

According to Misha’s mother, Saturday was one of the first occasions Misha had smiled since the conflict began. Misha also spent the entire morning preparing for Cena, cleaning his room and putting together his own replica of Cena’s clothing.

“I didn’t want a son to think of his mom in a different light just because she did whatever she had to do to get him to safety,” Cena told WSJ. “I wanted to tell him today personally that his story really touched me.”

Cena stated in the video that he took advantage of some downtime from filming and decided to make the trip right away.

“When I read about Misha’s story it reached out to me, not just Misha’s story, but the story of Misha’s mom as well,” Cena said. “I happened to have three days off from work right at the time when I read this story, and being an hour away by air, it turned immediately into, ‘We’re going!’ And that means spending an afternoon building blocks and eating cake. That’s a special afternoon when it comes to the new friends I was able to meet.”

Cena gifted Misha the WWE merchandise he was wearing during the visit, as well as a replica WWE Title belt and other things.

“Misha’s ability to embrace persistence, that’s extraordinary,” Cena said. “Those words, Never Give Up, we’ve all thought about those in our life, they’re very powerful. I think Misha’s a great example, and Misha’s mom, they’re two great examples of how persistence can lead to joy, even through the toughest of times.”

Cena thanked Misha for giving him strength before departing.

“Today was a wonderful adventure, in which I got to meet a wonderful new friend. Thank you for giving me the strength,” Cena told him.

Cena also met some of Misha’s family members and spent time with a group of Mariupol children being hosted by Dutch care organisation ISZA Thuiszorg. Cena walked into a larger room with the other children and Misha to play blocks after having traditional Ukrainian honey cake with Misha and his mother. Misha built a house for Cena.

“How special is today? Yeah, pretty darn special,” Cena said to the camera to end the video.

Cena announced the special visit on Twitter, thanking WWE and the Wall Street Journal for making it possible.

“What a wonderful way to spend a Saturday. Misha and his mother, Liana define #NeverGiveUp. Thank you to the @WSJ and @WWE who helped make this special visit possible,” he wrote.

Misha also asked Cena to assist him in greeting Bliss, as seen in the video below.

Bliss responded and wrote, “Hi Misha !!! [waving hand emoji x 2] sending so many hugs ! Thank you @JohnCena !!! This warms my heart so much”

As PWMania.com previously reported, Cena will return to WWE TV on the June 27 RAW from Laredo, Texas. There is no indication on what WWE has planned for Cena, but they are currently celebrating his 20th anniversary with “#CenaMonth.”

You can watch the video below:

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