Western Pa. native burned in New Zealand volcano eruption
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A Western Pennsylvania native and his wife were among the 18 people who were hurt when a volcano erupted Monday in New Zealand.
At least five people were killed and dozens of others were missing after the eruption on White Island, New Zealand’s most active cone volcano.
Matthew Urey, 36, grew up in Hermitage in Mercer County, his mother, Janet, said. His back, arms, legs and face were burned, Janet Urey said.
She talked to her son Tuesday morning after he’d had surgery.
“It’s a nightmare,” Janet Urey said. “To hear him just breaks my heart. I just want to be there.”
She and Matthew’s brother, Timothy, were planning to take a flight to New Zealand on Tuesday night. It includes a stopover in San Francisco and then at least another 14 hours, she said.
Matthew Urey is a 2002 graduate of Hickory High School in Hermitage and lives in Richmond, Va. He and his wife, Lauren, a Richmond-area native, were married Oct. 18. This was their honeymoon, Janet Urey said.
Making the trip to Australia and New Zealand was a lifelong dream for her son, Janet Urey said.
She initially received a voicemail at midnight Monday from her son letting her know they were burned but OK. She spoke to him briefly afterward, and then spent 12 hours worrying. She received better information about their condition when she spoke with Matthew on Tuesday morning.
The couple are being treated at different hospitals in New Zealand.
Janet and Timothy Urey plan to stay indefinitely in New Zealand until they recover, Janet Urey said.
“It’s going to be a long haul,” she said.