Kelsey Waghorn has shared her progress as she recovers from the Whakaari / White Island eruption. Photo / File
Kelsey Waghorn has shared her progress as she recovers from the Whakaari / White Island eruption. Photo / File
More than two months after WhakaarI/White Island blew, survivor Kelsey Waghorn is celebrating the "little victories" in her recovery.
The tour guide, who suffered burns to 45 per cent of her body, shared a picture showing the remarkable transformation of her right hand in just a few short months.
Onthe left is her hand pictured on Christmas Day - tightly bandaged and pale, with blackened fingernails and cracked skin.
But only eight weeks later the bandages are gone. the cracks have healed and her skin is flushed with colour.
"...although it doesn't look like it on the right there, these mits are looking significantly more 'skin coloured' every week," she captioned the post.
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"They still require moisturising every 0.2 seconds, massaging to stop scar tissue contraction and the oils are still working out where the exit is, but they're finally becoming less crazy-sensitive, which is allowing me to do more for myself - more importantly, pat dogs," she said.
The 25-year-old has continued to recover in the wake of the tragedy that killed 21 people.
"When they told me 'you'll have to learn to walk again' I almost scoffed," she captioned the post.
"'I've been walking 20 something years, thank you, my body and I have got this. We might be weak and small at the moment, but once that strength comes back, no 'learning' will be required.
Waghorn spent 10 days in ICU, five of those in an induced coma after the island erupted on December 9.
She's has undergone more than a dozen surgeries, with skin grafts to her arms, legs, hands and lower back, with some touch ups on her upper arms.
"Once again, thank you thank you thank you to everyone for their donations, their kind words, their time and hard work," she wrote on her Givealittle page.
