Ohio realtor’s son in Ukraine to rescue wife

CANFIELD, Ohio (WKBN)- The situation between Ukraine and Russia has been one to watch for a week. A person who grew up in the Mahoning Valley is there trying to pull one person out.

George Berick talked to his son Kaisi this morning in Ukraine. He’s there to get his wife out of the country.

“They’re working on getting her out of Kiev. He’s halfway there. He’s stuck now really in a small village. There’s air raids still every night, but there’s no real shelling at this point,” Berick said.

Kaisi’s drive from Lviv to Kiev would normally take seven hours, but with all of the damage, it could be at least a 17-hour drive.

Berick has told his son it’s a mission.

“Get her out. Get out of there and head to safety over to Poland. I don’t care if he tells me he’s going to be in Poland for six months. That’s fine. Just get out of there,” Berick said.

Kaisi lives in California. The odds of this story playing out are astronomical.

“Out of all the countries in the world and all the women in the world, Kaisi ends up with a girl in Ukraine. Now, he has to go and save her. It would only be Kaisi,” Berick said.

The Bericks are watching the news, and just waiting to hear from Kaisi. George Berick realizes he couldn’t stop his 37-year old son who is fighting for his love, but as a father, he was struggling to see him leave.

“It’s an interesting thing, but I have to realize I’m just going to have some faith that it will be fine, and the story is going to have a great ending,” Berick said.

Berick has five children. His daughter’s fiance is a Marine being deployed next week. He has to worry about him, in addition to his son.

Berick owns numerous local Century 21 offices. A new one opened Thursday in Canfield off of Tippecanoe Road, which helped keep him and his wife’s minds somewhat occupied.

The Lakeside Realty office is co-owned by Tibitha Matheney and Val Park, who plan to operate it with integrity and be involved in the community.

“I think that it helps having our experience and the agents that we have here because we really do care about every step of the way with our clients to make a good transaction for them and to help them find a house in the area,” Matheney said.

The co-owners have 36 years of combined experience in real estate.