Houstonians dealing with attacks in Brussels
HOUSTON (KTRK) -- The minutes never seemed slower for Nic Radford on Tuesday night. He was waiting for his Belgian fiance who was flying into Houston.
"When everything happened (in Belgium) I was just like, geez," remarked Radford, who travels to Brussels regularly. He and his fiance Magali Collard met in Europe, and Tuesday night, she was moving permanently to Texas.
Collard had originally planned to fly out of Brussels, but made a last minute change to fly out of Nice, France to Houston.
"She'd flown through Brussels at that time of the day, in the morning. It's funny how fate works," said Radford.
Away from the airport, Gaetane Pauwels also waited, but with more agony.
"His phone has not been answering it's just dead," she said, her voice trailing off softly. The Belgian native lives in Houston with her husband. She is waiting for word about her step-son, Gaetan Remacle. The 20-year-old college student lives in Brussels, but has not answered his phone since the attacks.
"Nobody's heard from him so it's quite scary," said Pauwels, who said she has reached every other member of her family.
Back at the airport, Radford no longer has to wait. His fiancé made it through customs and into his arms around 8:30 Tuesday night.
"I feel very sad for my country. I hope things will go fine for now," said Collard, who still can't believe all the familiar places attacked. "I recognized every place that blew up."
Finally in Texas, Collard and Radford embraced and shared a long overdue kiss. The couple now feels safe.
