Editor's Note: The cloud of despair that has engulfed Haiti continues to be punctured by stories of hope and survival. Our Jason Carroll is in Port-au-Prince where he went looking for a father after his son here in New York contacted CNN.
By Jason Carroll and Justin Dial, CNN
When news of the quake broke and images of destruction poured in, Sachiel Mondesir sat in New York, frustrated and worried, unable to reach his father Jean Syrie who was vacationing in Port-au-Prince.
"I was scared. I wanted to know something. Each time I saw a body in the street, I saw houses down, I was afraid where my father could be."
Mondesir tried everything, but communications were down and the U.S. embassy out of reach.
"It was a sense of helplessness where you can't do anything for the person you love. I didn't know what to do."
So Mondesir took a chance and sent an e-mail to CNN asking for help, attaching his father's picture and address.
Armed with the information, we set out to find Jean Syrie. Our local driver, snaking through the complicated streets, asking questions along the way. Finally, we spotted the address, in a neighborhood called Delmas 24.
The Mondesir home was destroyed. There was no sign of Sachiel's father, but we did find Sachiel's aunt.
She said that Sachiel's father is alive and took us to a small camp where they have been staying with other survivors. We waited. There was no sign of Jean Syrie. But when we returned several hours later we greeted him and CNN Producer Justin Dial used our satellite phone to make an important call.
"Sachiel, how are you doing?" asked Jean Syrie. "I'm fine," he replied.
We asked him what it was like to finally speak with his son.
"Sachiel, yes, very nice, very nice. He is my last son," he told us.
More than a thousand miles away a grateful and relieved son.
"It is almost like a dream. We haven't heard from him ... so to speak to him again it is [hard] to even explain emotions."
In a city with so much despair, one family is thankful for the ending they had hoped for.
providing emergency aid and relief to victims of the devastating earthquake in Haiti and find ways you can get involved by visiting Impact Your World. Impact Your World.