'Pray for Ukraine': Pennsylvania man, his young family among those fleeing war
"I woke up to sirens happening, jets overhead. People were panicking," Jose Class said.
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Over the last two years, Jose Class Jr. of Reading, Pennsylvania, went from being a born and bred Pennsylvanian to a refugee in Poland fleeing the violence in Ukraine.
It started when he met a woman online in Ukraine.
He traveled to meet her in person. The two fell in love, got married and had a baby. Now, he is doing everything he can to get his family to safety in America.
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Class said very few people in his wife's hometown in eastern Ukraine believed Russia was actually going to wage war until they did.
"I woke up to sirens happening, jets overhead. People were panicking, (there were) long lines at the grocery store, long lines at the ATM," he said.
After catching rides with helpful strangers, and then walking the last six miles with their baby in tow, they finally made it to the Poland border.
From that point, their fate rested in the hands of a sweet couple they recently met on Facebook messenger.
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"We got into contact with this nice family here who was able to drive four hours from Warsaw to the border and pick us up and drive us back to stay at their home," Class said.
Now, the Class family's final obstacle just might prove the most difficult to clear. They are working to obtain a visa for Jose's wife Tetiana in the middle of a war.
"We have a CR1 visa in process but we're in a long line. There is nothing else we can do but wait until something happens," he said.
Of course, Tetiana is focused on the safety and security of baby Sophia, but she also has this message for the people of the Delaware Valley.
"I just want to say is pray for Ukraine. That's all I can say actually," she said.
