You can't help but feel..what if it was my kids?

COLEEN Rooney said she could not help but think of her sons when she met children whose lives have been devastated by war in Ukraine.

- BY DAN WARBURTON

The mum of Kai, 15, Klay, 12, Kit, nine, and Cass, seven, flew into Poland to see how donations to Soccer Aid for Unicef support young refugees caught up in the deadliest conflict in Europe since the Second World War.

And the I'm a Celebrity star revealed when she met disabled youngsters she was reminded of her adopted sister Rosie, who died at the age of 14 in 2013.

Speaking exclusively to the Mirror as she met displaced mothers and their families, Coleen said: "As a mum myself, I couldn't help but think of my own boys when I met the children.

"Seeing them smile and play despite everything they have been through was incredibly moving." Coleen, 39, admitted: "I can relate to being a mum and the first thing in that situation is to get out of danger, to just make sure the kids are OK.

"And that is exactly what these mums were doing, they got out of Ukraine."

Almost nine million people have fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion began on February 24, 2022. Nearly 1.6 million are in Poland and around 90% of them are women and children.

During her visit to a Unicef educational rehabilitation school, Coleen met fitness coach Kateryna and her son Murat, seven, who has learning difficulties and struggles to speak.

They fled Nikolayev, on the front line, and made a two-day bus trip of nearly 700 miles to find safety in Krakow.