Whakaari/White Island survivor Stephanie Browitt shares tale of hope

A survivor of the deadly eruption at Whakaari/White Island has shared the latest painful steps on her journey to recovery from horrific burns.

Australian woman Stephanie Browitt, 23, suffered burns to 70 per cent of her body as a result of the December 9 eruption that killed her father Paul and sister Krystal.

She has been sharing her progress of social media, regularly giving updates on her battle to recover from her life-changing injuries.

The Browitt family from Melbourne were cruise ship passengers on board Ovation of the Seas to celebrate Krystal Browitt's 21st birthday when she, her father and 23-year-old sister Stephanie took an excursion to White Island with other tourists on December 9.

Wife and mother, Marie, opted to stay onboard the cruise ship.

In her latest post, Browitt shared a photo of the extensive scarring on her legs and revealed more about her determination to regain her mobility.

"My legs needed multiple surgeries before they were fully covered, so I'd be up and walking [sort of] and then I'd need another surgery and I'd be set back all over again. It was really upsetting," Browitt wrote.

She revealed that taking skin from the donor sites on her body was "the most painful things I've ever experienced" and the repeated surgeries took a massive toll.

She shared how, after surgery to remove skin from her thighs and behind her kneecap, she woke to one of her favourite burns nurses telling her "You'll be walking in two days".

"Me being in so much pain angrily said, 'Nope'. She goes, 'yeah you will,' and walks off," Browitt wrote.

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In February I was still having skin grafts/surgeries done in hospital. One of the last places to receive skin were my legs because I didn’t have any spots left for them to take from, so they had to wait for my donor spots to heal so they could take more again. My legs needed multiple surgeries before they were fully covered, so I’d be up and walking (sort of) and then I’d need another surgery and I’d be set back all over again. It was really upsetting. I had another surgery on my legs and they took some skin from my thighs and behind my knee cap. Let me tell you, the donor sites are the most painful things I’ve ever experienced. One of my favourite burns nurses told me after I woke up, “You’ll be walking in 2 days.” Me being in so much pain angrily said, “Nope.” She goes, “yeah you will,” and walks off. 2 days later and it’s time for the much dreaded Physio. I have 2 of them helping me lean on my side and slowly stand up using a walker. That takes about 15 minutes, I’m already in tears from the pain and just wanting to be done. Then they want me to take some steps... because skin was taken from behind my knee I couldn’t bend my leg. I had slowly taken a few steps and then the burns nurse comes into my room and says, “I told you you’d be walking!” My pain turns to frustration. “No. I don’t want to do this! I just want to disappear! I wish I could just hide somewhere ahh!” All the while I’ve bolted from my room out into halls to get away from everyone and she shouts, “Just remember you have to walk back again.” I slowly make my way back and try to hide my smile because of how I just surprised myself, still in pain. Once I’m back the nurse tells me, “I could just see the determination in your eyes as you got annoyed at me,” while holding back a cheeky laugh. Honestly when I think of this moment it makes me laugh so much, but it also taught me something. Determination doesn’t always look the same in different situations. And even if you don’t realise it, it’s always there inside of you. You can do anything as long as you don’t tell yourself the opposite. I didn’t want to do physio because it was so painful... but when they came around I never said no. 👊🏻

A post shared by Stephanie Coral Browitt (@stephaniecoral96) on Jul 19, 2020 at 1:31am PDT

Later, during painful physio, the same nurse walked into the room.

"Then they want me to take some steps... because skin was taken from behind my knee I couldn't bend my leg. I had slowly taken a few steps and then the burns nurse comes into my room and says, 'I told you you'd be walking!'," Browitt said.

"My pain turns to frustration. 'No. I don't want to do this! I just want to disappear! I wish I could just hide somewhere ahh!'. All the while I've bolted from my room out into halls to get away from everyone and she shouts, 'Just remember you have to walk back again.'"

Stephanie Browitt lost her father, Paul and sister, Krystal, in the Whakaari White Island volcanic explosion. Photo / Supplied

Browitt said once she realised the progress she had made she tried to hide a smile as the burns nurse told her she could see the determination in her eyes.

Browitt wrote: "Determination doesn't always look the same in different situations. And even if you don't realise it, it's always there inside of you. You can do anything as long as you don't tell yourself the opposite."

On the day of the tragedy, the Browitts reached the centre of the island at about 2pm, taking a picture together at the edge of the steaming crater lake at 2.04pm.

Six minutes afterwards they were headed to the jetty when Whakaari/White island erupted.

Krystal managed to capture the moment it began on camera, with a gas cloud beginning to emerge from near the crater lake.

Their tour guide instructed the group to start running and before Browitt was able to put her gas mask on her face she was hit by a wave of ash and rock.

"It felt like a wave, like it just takes you," she said.

"I was just knocked over. I was tumbling, rolling, for minutes. I mean it felt like forever until it stopped and then it was just burning hot.

"I remember trying to stand up and it took so much energy just to stand up I remember thinking, 'I can't believe how hard this is'. My legs just felt like jelly."

After getting to her feet and walking for a short time, Browitt fell and tumbled down a small hill and landed among a group of people.

Help only arrived nearly an hour after the volcano erupted.

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So after nearly 6months in hospital and definitely over 6 months since I’ve seen my fur baby, I finally got approval for Day leave. On my beautiful baby’s 1st birthday!!! 🥳🥳 And to say I got the best welcome back hug and cuddles from my dog is honestly an understatement! Mum had to try and stop him from jumping on me so I wouldn’t get clawed (she failed miserably and I honestly didn’t care lol). God he’s gotten amazingly larger since I last saw him as well 😯. But today couldn’t have been any better and it felt amazing to be back in my home even if it was just for a day. #furbaby #puppy #dog #collie #birthday

A post shared by Stephanie Coral Browitt (@stephaniecoral96) on May 15, 2020 at 1:40am PDT

No one was able to move, Browitt said, as they waited for help with the sun making her burns more painful.

She heard her father call out her name and called back to him before everything went quiet, Browitt said.

"I think a lot of people gave up on screaming," she said.

"But every 15 to 20 minutes, I'd hear my name again. My dad was yelling out my name and I realised he was checking up on me to make sure I was awake."

Browitt was rescued by helicopter pilot Jason Hill but not before the pilots tried to load Paul in first, who told them to take his daughters first.

After landing at Whakatāne, a 20-minute flight from the volcano, Browitt was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries.

Browitt and her father Paul were flown to Melbourne and Paul died in hospital four weeks after the eruption.

Tragically, Krystal's body was discovered on the island on December 13.