Alone, wading through shin-deep volcanic ash with each breath burning his airways, Mark Law had no idea whether the volcano crater he’d just landed on would erupt again.
Today, the Kāhu NZ chief executive is bestowed with one of New Zealand’s highest bravery awards – the New Zealand Bravery Star.
Law is one of eight people named in the 2022 Special Honours List, the New Zealand Bravery Awards.
Seven, including Law, have been recognised for their selfless heroism during the chaos of the Whakaari/White Island tragedy. The eighth awardee saved the life of a fellow soldier after a grenade misthrow.
The star is the country’s second-highest bravery award next to the New Zealand Cross. It is awarded to a person who displays “an act of outstanding bravery in a situation of danger”.
Whakaari erupted at 2.11pm on December 9, 2019, shooting out a massive column of steam and throwing a wave of hot rock, ash, and acid gas across the crater floor.
There were 47 people on the Bay of Plenty island at the time, but it was initially deemed too dangerous for air ambulance and paramedic helicopters to land.
Law, a commercial helicopter pilot from Whakatāne, was the first rescuer to arrive on the crater at 3.12pm.
He put on a gas mask and waded through the thick ash to find 20 people in the crater.
"It was a very strange place. It was eerily quiet, other than the big rumbles that were going on and the little murmurs of people asking for assistance," he told the Bay of Plenty Times yesterday.
Law radioed fellow Kāhu crew Tom Storey and Jason Hill, who were hovering near White Island Tours' boat, Phoenix, halfway back to shore from the island, offering to take the worst injured.
When Storey and Hill arrived, having learned Phoenix had paramedic support, they put on gas masks and joined Law to wade through the ash to the casualties. They were in varying positions and covered in thick ash, which was still falling.
The air was so acidic "you couldn't operate without your [gas] mask but it was so constricting when trying to get around and helping people", Law said.
They removed their masks at times to lift or move people but had to put them back on after a couple of burning breaths.
"Just trying to find people and work in that situation was incredibly difficult," he said.
"It was tremendously hard. It felt that we were doing as much as we could but not enough for people."
The crew moved from person to person, some suffering extensive burns and others in various stages of consciousness.
Hill ran back to his helicopter on the landing platform and flew it to the crater to load the injured, lifting off with a maximum of five patients at 3.48pm.
Law retrieved his helicopter while Storey readied the next five people.
A helicopter crew from Rotorua's Volcanic Air arrived, helping them to lift the injured onboard before Law left for Whakatāne Hospital.
Law said he barely thought about the immense danger he was in.
"A couple of times the volcano made a pretty loud rumble and we sort of looked at each other."
He did not regret flying to the disaster zone despite other pilots being instructed not to.
"I only stopped because there were so many air personnel there. We stopped but didn't get everyone off. That's my biggest regret."
Twenty-two people died from the Whakaari disaster, either in the eruption or from injuries sustained. Another 25 were injured, most needing intensive care for severe burns.
The efforts of the commercial helicopter crews resulted in 20 casualties being found on the crater floor, with 12 injured flown out over 40 minutes, and eight deceased repositioned for later recovery.
Of the 12 helicoptered out, 10 died.
"When you are in a time of need and hanging on, just, and there's someone there saying they are going to get you out, it's an absolute game-changer," Law said.
"These 12 people, we gave them a go. That's the most important thing for all the people [who] passed away or [had] serious injuries. I'd hate to think at how long it would've taken [if the helicopters didn't respond]."
Law said receiving the bravery star was "a little surreal" and a surprise.
"On the day I never thought anything of that. The biggest realisation was that there were a lot of people in a tremendous disaster. We had to start and say, 'let's get in there and help them out'."
In November 2020, Worksafe NZ filed charges under the Health and Safety and Work Act related to Whakaari against 13 parties including Kāhu NZ and Volcanic Air.
Charges against the National Emergency Management Agency and GNS have since been dropped but the others remain active, with a four-month trial scheduled to begin in July 2023.
The charges do not relate to events on the day of the eruption, or the rescue efforts. All defendants have pleaded not guilty.
Law said it was ironic to be honoured with such a prestigious award while the company was facing charges.
"It's the weirdest situation."
The New Zealand Bravery Awards are issued by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. They aim to recognise the actions of people who save or attempt to save the life of another, despite the risk to their own lives.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern congratulated the "selfless and extraordinary" actions of the pilots.
"They have our deepest respect and gratitude for putting their lives at risk for others. If not for their collective actions, the loss of life would have been even greater."
Ardern said Law in particular "displayed outstanding courage and bravery" and tried to rescue victims "with complete disregard for his own safety".
She commended all the pilots for their exceptional courage.
"On a day of such terrible loss and suffering, the actions of these seven individuals demonstrated the values New Zealanders hold dear."
Other bravery awards
Awarded for an act of exceptional bravery in a situation of danger
Tim Barrow and Graeme Hopcroft
Rotorua-based scenic flight company Volcanic Air director and chief helicopter pilot Barrow learned of the eruption on the island, noting one of his pilots was there with a tour. Barrow and Hopcroft lifted off from Rotorua and used relayed messages from Kāhu NZ's Mark Law to prepare for Whakaari. The two Volcanic Air crew landed and made their way through thick ash to help, carrying a man on their shoulders back to the helicopter before returning to help casualties on to Law's helicopter. They then manoeuvred their helicopter in place to take two injured people to Whakatāne Hospital.
Jason Hill and Tom Storey
The two Kāhu NZ crew flew from Whakatāne with the intention of helping the injured on the island. They found White Island Tours boat Phoenix on its way back to Whakatāne and hovered nearby, offering to take the worst injured but learned paramedics were coming via Coastguard. Storey and Hill arrived on Whakaari, donned gas masks and waded through shin-deep ash to aid the casualties with Law. Hill ran back to the landing platform and flew his helicopter up to load casualties on board, taking five to Whakatāne Hospital. Storey remained on the island with Sam Jones and Callum Mill to check there were no remaining survivors. They then carefully grouped the dead closer together, with the intention of retrieving the bodies when the helicopters returned.
Sam Jones and Callum Mill
Jones and Mill flew on a second Volcanic Air helicopter to Whakaari and helped load an injured person into the other Volcanic Air helicopter, which then left for Whakatāne. The helicopter crews had difficulty loading patients, who had no strength to lift themselves, into the high-level doorways of the helicopters – it required a team effort from rescuers. Jones, Mill, and Kāhu NZ's Tom Storey stayed on the island to check there were no remaining survivors. They then carefully grouped the dead closer together, with the intention of retrieving the bodies with the helicopters returned.
Awarded for an act of bravery
Acting Warrant Officer Class 2 Michael Marvin
On June 18, 2020, then Staff Sergeant Marvin was working with a junior soldier as part of their grenade-throwing drill. When a misthrow resulted in a live grenade landing within 1.5 metres of the thrower, Marvin yelled “drop grenade”. He tackled the junior soldier backwards into a small depression, about four metres away, smothering the soldier with his body, thereby providing a shield from the blast. He suffered fragmentation blast injuries from eight ball bearings to his lower body but checked on the other soldier first to conduct a primary injury assessment. The junior soldier suffered a ball-bearing injury to his leg.
Mark Hohua, known as Shark, was allegedly beaten to death by fellow gang members in 2022.