N-ice try! Schoolgirl, 9, slips over 40 TIMES as she struggles to walk up a frozen street in Ukraine
- Maria Moiseyenko, nine, was determined to make it up an icy street in Ukraine
- Young girl fell 40 times as she attempted to make it to the end of the road in Kiev
- Male passerby stopped to try and help her but gave up when she fell down again
- She made it up the hill eventually with no injuries just a few bruises on her knees
A stoic schoolgirl showed no signs of giving up as she struggled to walk across an ice-covered street, falling 40 times.
Nine-year-old Maria Moiseyenko’s fight against extreme weather conditions was captured by a street surveillance camera in the centre of Kiev, Ukraine.
In the clip, passersby are seen sliding down the sloping Andriyivsky Uzviz, one of the Ukrainian capital’s famous historic streets.
Maria Moiseyenko, nine, fell over around 40 times as she tried to walk along an icy street in Kiev, Ukraine
Surveillance cameras captured her struggle, which saw her fall onto her knees several times, slide down the hill and even try crawling to get across the icy patch
The place turned into an ice rink on Thursday after wet weather was followed by freezing temperatures.
At one point, the young girl, wearing a lilac backpack comes into view while making attempts to ascend the street.
She can be seen repeatedly trying to climb the slippery pavement but all her efforts end with another fall.
A male onlooker, dressed in black winter clothes, offers her his hand and helps her to step on the pavement after seeing her desperate struggle.
The brave young girl did not give up, eventually making it across the street uninjured but with a few bruises on her knees
After receiving help, Maria manages to stand upright for a second then falls onto the ice again as the man throws up his hands in despair and goes away.
The failure does not stop the girl and she keeps on striving to make it to the end of the street.
She then successfully crawls on all fours but the moment she gets to her feet she slides down and has to start over.
Speaking later with local media, Maria explained she was hurrying to her brother who was waiting for her at the end of the street so they could go home together.
The girl, who does gymnastics and knows ‘how to fall correctly’ said: ‘The pavement was so slippery that it was impossible to stay on my feet.
A man passing by tried to help her get back on her feet but after she fell over again he appeared to give up
‘I fell 40 times and got bruises to my knees. But it didn’t hurt.’
According to Maria, she eventually met with her brother and they went home together as they had planned.
The girl and her siblings are taught to support each other and not give up, their mother Inna Moiseyenko said.
Mrs Moiseyenko commented: ‘Masha [short form for Maria in Russia] has a strong spirit. Thank God, she did not receive serious injuries.’
The video was posted by Yaroslav Yemelianenko on his Facebook and quickly went viral and was viewed by thousands of people around the world.
Surface water left from heavy rain in the capital this week froze and left sheets of ice across the city.
Elsewhere in Ukraine, more than 170 cities were left without power due to the weather, Euro News reports.