Latest flight from Haiti to Fort Pierce leads to emotional reunion between mother and son
Another plane full of people from Haiti landed at Treasure Coast International Airport Tuesday night, the third such flight from Missionary Flights International in the last week.
But this flight was a little different.
“I can’t wait to see her, because it’s been so long,” said Wilner Augustin.
Augustin left Haiti in 2018 to move to the U.S. and hasn’t seen his mother since.
She’s on the plane heading toward Fort Pierce.
Mariannie Fleury lives in a town about 20 minutes outside of Port au Prince, which has been plagued by violence for weeks.
“No food. There is nothing,” Augustin said of the situation in Haiti. “There is no word to describe what is going on in Haiti.”
Fearing for his mother’s safety, Augustin was able to arrange for his mother to get a seat on this latest flight.
“I’m so happy I was able to do that. Now, I can just have my mom come and hopefully, I will be able to have some other people come,” Augustin said.
“That encourages me to keep doing what we’re doing,” said Joe Karbensh, president of Missionary Flights International. “If I hadn’t seen my mom for that many years, and she’s able to come out and be safe, that’s great.”
Shortly after 6 p.m., the plane touched down in Fort Pierce, Augustin waving at his mother as she stepped off the flight.
It took a few minutes for Fleury to clear customs, and then the two shared an emotional embrace.
“It’s so exciting,” Augustin said. “There are no words to describe it.”
Fleury said she was so happy to be in the U.S., she had to hug everyone.
But she never strayed more than a few feet away from her son.
“God just made it happen,” Augustin said. “And we’re so happy that now she’s with us.”