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Chris Parry from Cornwall felt it his duty to help vulnerable Ukrainians – Paddy Wivell’s superb documentary tells his remarkable story
What motivates a 28-year-old from Cornwall with no military experience to risk his life in Ukraine? Hell Jumper (BBC Two) is the story of Chris Parry, who left his comfortable existence in Britain to help evacuate civilians living near the front line. Tragically, he was killed there a year after his arrival, found with gunshot wounds to the head and torso in a suspected murder by Wagner Group mercenaries.
The title of this 90-minute documentary takes its name from a quote given by a volunteer: “They call us ‘hell jumpers’ because we drive into the unknown with bombs falling, risking everything to rescue civilians.” This work isn’t undertaken by large aid agencies, but by freelance operators who respond to messages asking for help. Many of the people they rescue are elderly, refusing to abandon their homes until the Russians are on their doorstep.
The risks of driving into a warzone to carry out these evacuations are obvious, and vividly illustrated here. Chris and his comrades recorded the rescues on phones or helmet cameras, and in one heart-stopping video we saw Chris running from door to door as explosions were heard all around him. He was navigating via Google Maps.
Back to the original question: what was Chris’s motivation? The film-maker, Paddy Wivell, spoke to his family and friends, who remembered him as a relentlessly energetic character with a strong moral code. His bravery is not in doubt, and his parents are rightly proud of him. But the film, while paying tribute to Chris and treading softly around the subject, was not a hagiography. With intelligence and tact, it explored the psychological factors at play.
An American volunteer candidly admitted that there was a thrilling side to being greeted as a saviour, and that there is an addictive quality to getting “likes” for videos of daring rescues on social media. Personalities changed out there, he said. “You start to seek out that stuff, you take more risks.”
It was uncomfortable listening to a voice note which Chris sent to his girlfriend, a Ukrainian who had taken a break from the warzone and retreated to a safer part of the country: “It’s a f—ing war,” he told her. “I keep labouring on at you to please come, but you’re not entertaining that idea. I know it’s horrible to hear, but I save lives. I serve a purpose in this country and I have to be there because they literally need me.”
And it is not simply the idealism of youth that spurs on the volunteers. “I have a home. I have a mortgage. I have a wife,” said a middle-aged Canadian. He returned home after Chris’s death provided a wake-up call.
Hell Jumper is on BBC Two tonight at 9pm; on BBC iPlayer now
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