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The Repair Shop viewers 'bawling' over incredibly moving fix for emotional guest

Guest Maria Kirk was overcome with emotion 

the repair shop jay blades bbc
Nicky Morris
TV and film writer
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The Repair Shop viewers were left "bawling" over an incredible moving fix in the series 12 premiere on Wednesday night.

Jay Blades and the team welcomed Maria Kirk to the barn, who brought with her a 19th-century Madonna and Child painting which was her only connection to her Ukrainian family. 

Maria explained that her grandfather, who was a Ukrainian catholic priest, was given the painting by his father and hung it in his church in the mountains of western Ukraine. 

19th century painting© Photo: BBC

Viewers were impressed by the incredible restoration

When the Second World War broke out, the painting was rolled up and hidden in her grandmother's coat just before she was taken to a forced labour camp in northern Germany with her two daughters. 

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While her mother and aunt survived, Maria's grandmother died of starvation in the camp. When her aunt became ill some years later, she decided to give Maria the painting. 

The Repair Shop guest Maria© Photo: BBC

Maria was overcome with emotion over the reveal

"It makes me realise how brave they were to do this because they could have easily been robbed or shot," she explained. "The faith and the bravery to just do it and hide it in a coat and carry it through the whole war."

Paintings conservator Lucia Scalisi put her restoration skills to the test and transformed the painting to its former glory. 

After Jay and Lucia revealed the restored artwork, Maria was overcome with emotion and thanked the expert for her hard work. Watch the moving moment in the video below…

WATCH: The Repair Shop guest in tears over incredibly moving fix

Viewers were left in tears over the incredibly emotional fix, with one person writing: "Bawling. Wow that painting," while another added: "Incredibly moved by story and restoration of the #Ukrainian painting in #TheRepairShop."

A third person tweeted: "Beautiful show tonight with one of the most powerfully emotional stories linked to a painting that survived a labour camp," while another praised the team of experts, writing: "#TheRepairShop has been my favourite show for years, so the team's talent shouldn't come as any surprise. But, wow, Lucia's restoration of that Ukrainian painting was something else. Simply stunning."

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