John Cena showed up for a family who fled Mariupol, Ukraine, after their house was destroyed in the Russian invasion.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine nearly four months ago, more than 13 million Ukrainians have fled their homeland. Some cities, such as Mariupol, have been completely destroyed—”reduced to a wasteland littered with bodies,” according to an explainer in Reuters—and may be uninhabitable for the foreseeable future.

Many families fled early in the war, when the danger became clear. But not everyone understood why they were leaving.

Children are befuddled by war, as they should be. It is nonsensical, illogical and unbelievable to think that you must leave your home and move to a country far away because a grown-up who is supposed to be a leader is trying to blow up your house. People with intellectual disabilities may also not understand a sudden uprooting, especially when the reason is something even fully abled adults struggle to make sense of.

When Liana Rohozhyn’s home in Mariupol was destroyed earlier in the war, she and her family were forced to flee. Her son Misha, a nonverbal 19-year-old with Down syndrome, was understandably distressed about having to leave Ukraine. To comfort him through the long journey across Europe to safety, Liana told Misha they were going on a trip to find the champion wrestler, John Cena.

It was a fictional story made up by a desperate mother in a dire situation. As a parent, you do what you have to do to keep your children safe. Little did Liana know that John Cena would not only see her family’s story, but go out of his way to provide a measure of comfort during a tragic and disorienting time.

Cena just happened to be in Europe when he read about the story of how Liana had motivated Misha with the hope of meeting him. Being only an hour’s flight away, Cena’s immediate response was, “We’re going.”

The WWE star met the family near Amsterdam and spent a “special” afternoon “building blocks and eating cake.”

He shared kind words about Misha and his mother.

“Misha’s ability to embrace persistence, that’s extraordinary,” he said, adding that Misha and Liana are “two great examples of how persistence can lead to joy, even through the toughest of times.”

After spending the day with the family and gifting Misha a load of WWE gear, Cena told the young man, “This was a wonderful adventure in which I got to meet a wonderful new friend. Thank you for giving me strength.”

Liana told him he had “a big heart.”

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The sweet story has touched the hearts of people the world over, with people sharing praise for Cena and for Misha’s mother.

“There are several things I find remarkable about this interaction,” wrote commenter Emily Clauson on YouTube. “How this man talks to Misha softly, with respect and love. He is not putting on a performance. He isn’t acting ‘compassionate’ for the cameras. He is connecting with a human being. They were just two guys hanging out enjoying their day. He spoke to him as an equal. I find that so admirable.”

“I’m from Ukraine and it brought me to tears!” wrote another commenter. “We Ukrainians really appreciate this support from all over the world, we need it so much at these dark times! as they say, in dark times you can see light people. Thanks for standing we Ukraine, would never expect to hear about so many people with big hearts. ”

“I love how much he embraces Misha’s mom,” wrote another. “A lot of news reports on this story just seem to forget about how strong she is. This man is amazing!”

“Misha’s mom is an amazing woman. She kept her son going to get out. I wish them well and thank you John Cena for responding,” wrote another.

This is not Cena’s first trip to make someone’s dreams come true. According to SB Nation, he has granted more than 650 wishes through Make-A-Wish since 2004, the most on record.

Cena himself shared that Misha and Liana define his motto, “Never Give Up,” and thanked the Wall Street Journal and World Wrestling Entertainment for pulling it all together.

Thank you, John Cena, for showing us what the best of humanity can look like.

About John Cena 

John Cena; His full name is John Felix Anthony Sina Jr. He is distinguished by his many talents, mathematically and technically; He is mainly a famous professional wrestler in the World Entertainment Free Wrestling (WWE), and later turned to acting, as he participated in many American television programs and movie roles; He also started singing in 2005 AD. 

John Cena was born on April 23, 1977 AD in Massachusetts in the United States of America, and he is the second son among five children of his parents; John Cena, the father of Italian descent, worked as a businessman and sports commentator on wrestling competitions, while his mother, Carol, of English-Canadian descent, is the daughter of Tony Lupien, a professional baseball player. And who played with many American League Baseball (MLB) clubs.

John Cena's early life and upbringing John Cena went to Catholic Central High School in his youth before moving to Cushing Academy, and then went to Springfield College in his hometown of Massachusetts; With the aim of studying human physiology and anatomy, and there he proved his skills in playing American football, where he was able to become a team leader, and an offensive lineman competing in the third division, and in 2000 AD John Cena graduated from college, and went to California, and he aspires to become A bodybuilder.

John Cena's beginnings in freestyle wrestling John Cena met one day at a bodybuilding club that he frequented in California with a professional wrestler who encouraged him to try free wrestling during Ultimate Pro Wrestling competitions. ; It is a wrestling marketing company that develops wrestlers and prepares them for the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) competitions, and thus John Cena entered the world of free wrestling, and he developed rapidly until he became one of the most famous professional wrestlers in the world.

John Cena crowned his first titles in the world of wrestling in a championship Ultimate Pro Wrestling (UPW) in April 2000 AD, and was able to draw the attention of WWE wrestling officials; In 2001 AD, he signed his first professional contract during Ohio Valley Wrestling, and then in February 2002 AD John Cena was crowned the Ohio Valley Heavyweight Championship.

John Cena appeared for the first time in wrestling competitions ( WWE) in July 2002 AD; This was in the SmackDown wrestling program (in English: WWE SmackDown), during which he fought several fights, the most famous of which was his confrontation at the beginning of his career with the famous wrestler Big Show in March 2004 AD at the WrestleMania Festival, which ended with the victory of John Cena, as well as when he defeated the wrestler Edward Fatu, known as "Umaga" in 2007 AD; At that time, he became the first to defeat him, in addition to many other confrontations and victories that he achieved during his career.

Facts you do not know about John Cena

He was sleeping in his Lincoln Continental

With only $500 in his pocket, John Cena left home to look for himself and his future. His father warned him he wouldn't last more than two weeks, but Cena quickly loaded his fitness equipment onto his car and drove to California.

When he first moved to California, he needed a job and was hired at Gold's Gym in Venice Beach, washing dishes and folding towels for $6 an hour.

John Cena tried to find a second job and applied to become a highway patrol officer, but unfortunately failed the patrol exam.

Cena didn't have enough money to rent an apartment and had to sleep in his 1991 Lincoln Continental.

"In the beginning, living in the back of my Lincoln Continental I was struggling but I wasn't sad at all because I was in the place where fitness was famous and I actually loved what I did," Cena told ESPN.

He has a large collection of luxury and sports cars

Everyone knows that John Cena is a rapper, wrestling star, and Hollywood actor, but what many don't know is that John loves to play golf, chess, watch NASCAR, is also a computer game fanatic, and loves cars!

John Cena likes to spend his wealth on luxury cars.

Senna's garage contains more than 20 luxury cars. His collections include a 1966 Dodge Hemi Charger, Ferrari, Rolls Royce, 2006 Lamborghini Murcielago Coupe, Maserati and Range Rover..

John Cena also owns a car show called John Cena: Auto Geek, in which he talks about his collection of cars.

Senna still has his old 1989 Jeep Wrangle, which he drives daily and says this car helps keep him grounded and reminds him of where he came from.

He speaks another language!

Years ago, Cena confirmed that he wanted to add a new talent to his talent pool and decided to learn a new language to help WWE spread its brand around the world.

John Cena decided to learn Mandarin Chinese, which is considered one of the most difficult languages spoken in the world and cannot be easily understood.

Cena surprised everyone when he spoke flawless Mandarin at a WWE press conference in Shanghai.

He is afraid of spiders

If you think that a huge athlete like John Cena has nothing to fear, you are wrong! Fassina is afraid of many-legged insects, especially spiders.

Like much of the world's population, Cena has a phobia of spiders and his fear of spiders was evident in his match with Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania 30 when Bray performed the spider walk and Cena was completely terrified of that move.

He was bullied as a child

The main reason why John Cena entered the sport of bodybuilding is that he was subjected to bullying, beatings, and harassment from his schoolmates.

In a previous statement to CBS News, Cena spoke about his struggles with bullying, saying:

"I'm 40 and I've been dealing with [bullying] for almost two decades. I'm a 12-year-old kid being cyberbullied and really trying to find who I am in life. It's not easy. I struggled."

He added, "I am now in a different place than I was 20 years ago.. I can assure people that it is not the end of the world and my advice to everyone is first and foremost be proud of being yourself because that will prepare you for the next 20 years."