Sarah Abo: The ordeal of the White Island survivors is ‘the kind of story you never expect to tell’

OPINION: New Zealand is essentially picture perfect. It is the place of breathtaking landscapes and fantastic movies. The adventure capital of the world, some would say.

It is also the epicenter of the benefactor attitude: “That’s the Kiwi way,” is often heard. That mindset of collaborating and helping each other that is so valued around the world.

And on December 9, 2019, that same attitude was reflected in two tour helicopter pilots, Jason Hill and Tom Storey, who flew into the North Island’s Whakaari / White Island volcano after a catastrophic eruption.

Heading into the unknown, the two young men threw caution to the wind. But they couldn’t just watch the eruption from afar. They felt compelled to do whatever they could to help. It was 2.11pm on a Monday, they knew there were very likely tourists on the island when the volcano erupted, but beyond that, they knew little else.

READ MORE:
* Rescuers admit they waited too long to help survivors, a year after the volcano disaster.
* The daily routine for Whakaari / White Island burn victims includes face masks, lots of moisturizer and a mouth retractor
* Whakaari / White Island: Survivor Stephanie Browitt’s ‘Heart Hurts and Hurts’ for Dad and Sister
* Whakaari / White Island: Australian victim Krystal Browitt an ‘absolutely beautiful girl’
* Heroes are created in the most unlikely places
* Whakaari / White Island: Anatomy of a deadly eruption and the quest to save the survivors

Were there tourists present at the time? Or had the tours of the day ended? If there were groups there, would they have had enough time to seek shelter? Would the guides have known what to do to protect the dozens who traverse those rugged roads every day?

As they neared the volcano, its thick gray ash cloud slowly diminished but with hot, acidic plumes still rising from its crater, Jason and Tom’s worst fears came true. There were tourists on the island. And they were very bad.

Stephanie Browitt was among them.

When I first met Stephanie face-to-face, I felt like I already knew her, having followed her recovery journey on social media. On Instagram and TikTok, he keeps his many, many followers informed and educated about the ups and downs of his life since the December 9 disaster. She is attractive, honest, remarkably tough, and incredibly brave. She is 24, but Stephanie’s story is not typical of most 24-year-olds.

Almost eleven months ago, Stephanie suffered burns to 70 percent of her body and lost two of the people she loved most in the world. His sister Krystal and his father, Paul. Together with their mother Marie, the four of them had traveled to New Zealand on Royal Caribbean’s Ovation of the Seas cruise ship to celebrate Krystal’s 21st birthday.

It was a party that ended in tragedy.

While Marie remained on the cruise, Stephanie, Krystal and Paul set off for White Island, a tour that was hastily sold to them while aboard the Ovation of the Seas, after a sign caught their attention. The Browits knew little about White Island. Turns out, neither did most of the others on his tour.

It wasn’t until they were on the island that Stephanie first learned how dangerous the volcano was. Her sister Krystal was filming her surroundings on her phone, when she inadvertently captured the audio of her guide telling tourists that the White Island volcano hazard warning was at level two, approaching level three. And that level three meant an eruption. Stephanie says that tourists were also told that their tour would be interrupted that day, due to the increased risk.

A short time later, as they drove away from the gurgling crater of the volcano, that risk suddenly became a reality.

“Run!”

That scream from their tour guide hit them like lightning, as black smoke billowed into the sky above them. But his legs couldn’t outrun that fierce eruption. In a matter of minutes, maybe even seconds, everyone was swallowed. Steam, combined with sulfuric ash covered them, burning every bit of exposed skin. Hot white rocks rained down on them at lightning speed. They couldn’t see his outstretched hands in front of them. They gasped for air.

Once the crater had unleashed its almighty roar, nothing and no one was safe. Even a helicopter was thrown off its runway, its rotors damaged.

Covered by the ash that remained after the eruption, tourists began to squirm. Groaning, those who could began to call their loved ones. Some responded, others did not. They longed for help, for someone to take them to safety. It came too late.

As Stephanie recounted her ordeal, I couldn’t help but feel her devastation. How helpless he felt in that moment. In the many excruciating moments that followed. Waiting for help to arrive, only to learn that their eventual rescuers were two tour helicopter pilots and not medically trained and equipped search and rescue teams to deal with a disaster. That while decisions were being made on the continent that was too dangerous to deploy, tourists from all corners of the world clung to life within reach, just 52 kilometers away, a simple 22-minute helicopter ride. That while Stephanie, Krystal, Paul, and two other victims were carefully placed in the tourist helicopter, skin peeling and lungs working with each breath, a tourist boat carrying more survivors began its tortuous 90-minute journey back to the Whakatane pier.

Of the 47 people on White Island when the volcano erupted, 21 people died. The others suffered significant injuries. None of them will ever be the same.

It’s easy to say, ‘this was an active volcano, it’s naturally volatile’, and that’s true. And it is true that the element of adventure was the engine that drove many to visit the island.

But it is also fair to say that the tourists, who sold day trips to the active volcano, should have been informed about the dangers, about the risks, about the unlikely possibility that the search and rescue teams would reach them in time, in case disaster.

The events of December 9, 2019 will be forever etched in the minds of survivors. These are the kinds of stories you never expect to tell, of losses and heartaches so stark it breaks your heart a bit too.

While nothing will change what happened that day, it is hoped that time will not only help heal the wounds, but also help bring some kind of comfort to those who so desperately deserve it.

For more information and to make a donation to Stephanie Browitt’s journey of recovery visit: www.friendsofsteph.com.au

More of Australia’s 60-minute coverage of the White Island disaster.

This story was originally published on Nine news and republished with permission.