KSHB 41 reporter Fernanda Silva covers stories in the Northland, including Liberty. She also focuses on issues surrounding immigration. Share your story idea with Fernanda.
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Two Kansas City–area men are in Egypt, hoping to return home safely.
What began as a fun trip turned into days of being stuck in Israel because of the war in Iran.
Henry McSilva and Regis Bezerra watched missiles being intercepted from their hotel room in Jerusalem.
“I felt like I was in a movie — something crazy that I had only ever seen in films before,” said Bezerra.
McSilva said they kept asking each other why we were still there. They both agreed things could get crazy, and they needed to leave.
While trying to find their way out of Israel, they discovered that the borders with Jordan were closed.
“We had nowhere to go,” Bezerra said.
Back in Jerusalem, their fear grew.
“We started hearing alarms telling us to find shelter — and then we started hearing bombs all over the place.”
Thousands of miles away, in the Kansas City area, their families shared that anxiety.
Juliet Pereira, Henry’s wife, said she wouldn’t wish that experience on anyone.
“It’s terrible,” she said, in an interview in her native Portuguese. “I couldn’t believe he was there.”
She added that it was hard to imagine her husband going through that.
Nothing, they say, prepares you for an experience like that.
“I have no words to describe how scary it was — we were in the middle of everything,” Bezerra said.
After days of fear and running to shelters when the sirens sounded, they drove 15 hours to Egypt.
“It was a difficult journey to get here,” McSilva said.
Now, they’re praying for answers, as Egypt is among the countries the State Department is urging Americans to depart from.
“My heart will only truly be at peace when I see him walking through those airport doors,” Juliet said.
They hope to fly back to the U.S. on Wednesday — but they’re worried the airport could close.
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