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Newlyweds Matthew Urey and Lauren Barham were standing on New Zealand’s White Island Volcano in early December when they heard someone yell, “Look.”
Urey looked up to see a cloud of ash rising from the volcanic crater and thought it was interesting enough to take a picture. He didn’t realize at the time that he would be one of the last before his and his wife’s lives changed forever.
| Heart | Security | Latest | Change | Change% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RCL | REAL CARIBBEAN CRUISES | 46.41 | -2.17 | -4.47% |
“I took a photo, two other people took a photo, and then they heard our tour guide yell, ‘Run,'” Urey reminded FOX Business. “And that’s when I dropped everything and ran as fast as we could … At that point I was completely terrified.”
Urey said they had approximately 45 seconds to a minute before the cloud reached them. The couple, wearing face respirators and helmets given to them by the travel company, covered themselves behind some nearby rocks, Urey said, but soon they were completely in the dark.
“This cloud reached us and completely eliminated all light. It was completely black, ”he recalled in minute detail. “Lauren was holding on to my wrist, but I had no idea she was there.”
Photo taken by Matthew Urey on December 9, 2019, just before the White Island volcano eruption (Lipcon, Margulies, Alsina, and Winkleman PA)
Urey, 36, and Barham, 33, were on their honeymoon, which included a royal Caribbean cruise through New Zealand at the time.
They are now suing the New Zealand cruise line and tourism company for what their Lipcon, Margulies, Alsina and Winkleman attorneys call a “preventable tragedy.”
Court documents and Urey himself say they found out about the excursion in a brochure provided by the cruise line and bought the tickets through Royal Caribbean.
They never interacted with the New Zealand tourism company until the day of the island excursion, and were never warned that the volcano had erupted four times since 2000, according to the lawsuit.
Neither the cruise line nor the tourism company told them that just a few weeks earlier, the volcano’s “alert level” had risen to a Level 2, according to the lawsuit, which it describes as “the highest level it can be. when it is not. ” erupting. “They only found out about the change in alert level when they heard a tour guide tell someone else during the tour.
“Royal Caribbean did nothing to warn them or notify them in any way or form. They have a duty to warn them so that their clients can make an informed decision,” said the couple’s attorney, Michael Winkleman. “And as Matt and Lauren said, ‘If we had known there was an increased risk, we never would have.'”
CARIBE REAL, NZ TOUR DEMANDED COMPANY AFTER COUPLE SUPPORTS ‘CATASTROPHIC INJURIES’ DURING THE ERUPTION OF VOLCANO
In a statement emailed to FOX Business, a Royal Caribbean Cruise Line spokesperson said: “We continue to support the needs of those affected by this tragic incident. We respectfully reject further comments while the investigation is still ongoing. “
Matthew Urey and Lauren Barham on their wedding day, October 18, 2019. (Photo courtesy of Lipcon, Margulies, Alsina & Winkleman PA
On the morning of December 9, 2019, the newlyweds took a 45-minute bus ride, then a 90-minute boat trip across rough seas before reaching the mountain for what they thought would be a “once in a lifetime” excursion.
Urey described to FOX Business how, hours later, when they ducked behind the rocks, the volcanic cloud brought in such darkness that he thought he was actually blind. With the cloud, the sound of rocks “echoing” from Urey’s helmet was heard “endless,” he said.
“When it was over, I could feel my skin burn,” he continued. “I reached out to touch my face hoping my eyes were gone.”
Then Barham’s mask slipped from his face.
“I didn’t know it at the time, but I had been screaming that he loved me,” said Urey. “He was breathing the ash and thought he was going to die, so he screamed that he loved me and needed help … it was agony.”
Of the 38 passengers aboard the excursion, 19 died as a result of the eruption. Two tour guides were also killed.
NEW ZEALAND VOLCANO ERUPTION DOES NOT LEAVE SIGNS OF LIFE ON THE ISLAND
Urey and Barham spent 10 and 16 days, respectively, in medically induced comas. They were treated in different hospitals hundreds of miles apart from each other before what Urey described as a “tearful” meeting at a Richmond hospital after returning from his months-long honeymoon nightmare.
“I have never in my life been so happy to see her and the nurses there were wonderful,” she said. “Actually, they had received a takeout from an Italian restaurant here in town for us … They reserved a small quiet room for us to have dinner and meet in peace for a bit.”
Now, eight months after their marriage, the burns cover 54 percent of Urey’s body and 23 percent of Barham’s, according to court documents.
ROYAL FESTIVAL OF THE CARIBBEAN SESSION AFTER CORONAVIRUS STOPPED CRUISES, 1,000 CREW MEMBERS ATTENDED: DEMAND
“We have skipped the entire newlywed phase,” said Urey.
The Richmond, Virginia couple’s nighttime routine now includes massage and scar stretching and skin grafting to keep their skin from tightening, he said.
“We can’t sleep in the same bed because we pull and spin a lot because of the discomfort from the scars and grafts,” Urey continued. “It has radically changed our lives.”
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