Friends step up to help get family out of Beirut

A Dunedin woman in Beirut who is desperate to get back to New Zealand to see her ill father should find out soon if her flight is confirmed.

Lorna Butler may be able to board a flight with her family as soon as Friday but last night some elements had not been finalised and access to money was problematic.

Ms Butler’s 80-year-old father, Stanley Butler, was admitted to Southland Hospital in Invercargill last week with a heart problem.

Ms Butler has been looking to return to New Zealand with her husband, Maroun Sfeir, and their son, Enzo Butler-Sfeir, since May.

"I just want to get my family home on safe ground but we’ve had two flights cancelled ... it’s getting tougher by the day with Covid closing many airports ... and prices escalating," she said on the GoFundMe crowdfunding platform.

Lebanese banks have imposed tight withdrawal limits and blocked transfers abroad amid a currency crunch and political unrest.

"You can’t access your own US dollars here in Lebanon," Ms Butler said.

Despite a series of difficulties, the hurdles to reaching New Zealand may be cleared this week.

One friend set up a GoFundMe page and another started a PayPal account to raise money.

Ferocious explosions in the Lebanese capital on August 4 added to the family’s anxiety.

The ammonium nitrate explosions at Beirut’s port killed more than 170 people and wounded more than 6000.

Ms Butler put it down to fate that she and her husband were still alive.

Mr Sfeir called in at the Australian embassy on August 4 to have his biometric data recorded for his travel visa but, unusually, it was shut. He got stuck in traffic and that led to Ms Butler putting off plans to travel into town to take their cat to a veterinarian.

Ms Butler reflected that she had signed her life insurance policy that morning. "What are the chances of that happening?

"I cried the following day with relief after digesting our fate that we were still alive."

She told her son the port explosions were fireworks.

Ms Butler met her husband, an architect, in Dubai six years ago. His family was from Lebanon and the couple settled there. Ms Butler excelled as a hair and make-up artist in the fashion industry. But the pair are prepared to start over in New Zealand.

Ms Butler said it was not in her nature to accept money from people.

"It’s no-one’s choice to be in this position."

She was unable to get back to New Zealand in May for the funeral of her younger sister, Davina Butler.

The feed of the funeral had poor connectivity and Ms Butler was able to see only erratic pictures of her family.

"The pain of this will haunt and wrench my heart forever, as I should have been there to support my father, who is in and out of the hospital with a bad heart," she said on the GoFundMe page.

"I’m desperately trying to return home to be there with him."