Family pay tribute to ‘brave’ 22-year-old son who died fighting in Ukraine

A family has paid tribute to their “brave” son who has been killed while fighting in Ukraine.

Callum Tindal-Draper, 22, from Gunnislake, Cornwall, was killed in action while serving with the foreign volunteer platoon in the country’s struggle against Russia.

In an interview with the BBC, his father Steven Draper said he begged his son not to travel to Ukraine, but he told him he was “not frightened of bullies”.

“We begged and begged and begged him not to go,” his father said.

“But Callum said ‘dad, I’m not frightened of bullies and what’s going on in Ukraine is awful and someone needs to stand up for these people’.”

In the same interview, his mother Caroline Tindal said she had visited him in September and he seemed as if he had found “who he was meant to be”.

“It was such a transformation and he said to me ‘mum, coming out here was the best thing that ever happened to me, I’ve found who I was meant to be’,” Ms Tindal said.

“He found who he was meant to be, he became that person and he lived it.”

You lived and died following your heart, soul and morals

Ms Tindal also posted a tribute to him to a group on Facebook.

She wrote: “He fought till he could no longer hold them off any more and his platoon are calling him a ‘hero’ and ‘As brave as they come’.

“22 is a young age. But you lived and died following your heart, soul and morals.

“May you rest in peace and help watch over those who have passed.”

Mr Tindal-Draper was a former student of Duchy College, in Stoke Climsland, Cornwall.

In a tribute on Facebook, the college’s Military and Protective Services Academy said he was a “model student” with a “strong moral compass”.

“He was a passionate, articulate and bright student, who was keen to learn, with a strong moral compass,” the post said.

“He was very proud of his family history in the services.

“He was well liked and respected by his peers, and was not one to shy away from causes he believed in and was instrumental in collecting the 3 minibus loads of humanitarian equipment for civilians that the learners gathered when the war in Ukraine initially kicked off.”

The post added that Mr Tindal-Draper worked for the NHS after finishing the course.

An FCDO Spokesperson said: “We are aware that a British national has reportedly died in Ukraine and stand ready to assist the family in the UK”.