HERMITAGE, Pa. - The mother of a former Hermitage man, Matt Urey, who, along with his new bride, was severely burned in a volcanic eruption in New Zealand, is now on her way to the country to be with her son. 

Matt and his wife, Lauren, are both hospitalized with severe burns.  

Janet Urey boarded a plane at Pittsburgh International Airport on Tuesday afternoon for a flight arranged by Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines.

Matt and Lauren were on their honeymoon cruise when they joined an excursion to White Island when the volcano suddenly erupted. 

Before boarding her flight, Mrs. Urey gave 21 News an update on her son's condition.

"I spoke with him this morning. He'd just had surgery last night, about a three-hour surgery. The burns were a little worse than we had hoped, and he's going to need skin graphs and plastic surgery. He'll have a repeat surgery in 48 hours, but he was able to talk to me, he's taking fluids and eating a little jello, so stable for now," she said. 

She said that the worst burns are to his hands but he's burned pretty much everywhere, including his abdomen, his back, his legs and his chin.

Mrs. Urey said that Matt told her that he and Lauren had just come down from the volcano and were able to take some shelter behind a large rock when the eruption happened. 

He said ten minutes sooner and they may not have survived. 

His wife is in a different hospital and reportedly is sedated and still incubated and will also require more surgery.

"He told me they had already come down from the volcano when it started to erupt. They were able to take some shelter behind a large rock, 10 minutes it could have meant life or death for them, but luckily they were already down the volcano close to the water, so they sheltered themselves a little bit. They already had been provided with respirators so they didn't breathe in all the ash," Urey said.

She said that it had been Matt's dream to visit New Zealand ever since he was a child and he spent months planning the trip.

"They had Face Timed me on Friday they had been at their first port and were just so excited they had spent three days at Sydney prior to going on the trip and just had an absolutely wonderful time," she said. 

She was looking forward to seeing him in person and giving him a kiss on the cheek.

Now the couple's friends are rallying to help them deal with their expenses. A GoFundMe has been set up under "Matt and Lauren Relief Fund." https://www.gofundme.com/f/matt-and-lauren-relief-fund

Officials in New Zealand confirmed on Tuesday that the death toll from the erupting volcano had reached six.

Eight other people are still missing and presumed dead.

Police said it's still too dangerous for crews to land on the island to recover bodies.