Almost a week after a devastating quake rocked his native Haiti, Garry Auguste on Monday finally got the call he'd been waiting for.
"It was my brother."
The Surrey, B.C., man had previously learned that his sister and her husband died in the quake. But he had received no updates about his brother or his mother.
Then on Monday, while talking to a friend on the phone, Auguste's cell phone buzzed. It was his brother on the other end.
"I hang up on my friend," he told CTV News.
The conversation was brief -- not more than a minute. But it lasted long enough for Auguste to learn that his brother and mother were alive, though his mother had injured her leg.
Auguste also learned that the house that he was born and raised in had collapsed.
"My life started there," he said.
Auguste said it comforts him to see all the aid that's been pouring in to the Caribbean nation from around the globe but worries supplies are not getting to locals fast enough.
He wants to help his family find shelter.
Auguste said he is trying to get the first flight to Haiti but he has been set back by cancellations. He has booked reservations with different airlines and will take whichever one comes first.
"I wish there is a way that I can go myself to make a difference in my family's life and also to those that need it -- people I can reach myself," he said.
"I want to be there to help them."
With files from CTV British Columbia's Maria Weisgarber
