Pair describe harrowing scene, horrific injuries minutes after Whakaari/White Island eruption

Tuesday, 10 December 2019

Lillani Hopkins and her dad Geoff Hopkins had just taken a tour of White Island when it erupted. They were then tasked with caring for the wounded on the trip back to the mainland.

Once a tour boat's fresh water ran out, a first-aid trained university student could only hold a screaming burn victim's hand and sing to him.

Amid a swirling ash cloud and in the bobbing sea, Lillani Hopkins 22, and her father Geoff Hopkins were on a boat treating burns and comforting the dying following Monday's Whakaari/White Island eruption.

Five of those rescued by the White Island Tours boat died hours after reaching shore.

Lillani Hopkins, 22, and her father Geoff Hopkins were among the boatful treating burns and comforting the dying following Monday's Whakaari/White Island eruption.

Half an hour earlier, Lillani and Geoff were standing at the edge of the crater peering into its depths. Five minutes earlier they'd been on the island.

**READ MORE

Lillani Hopkins, 22, and her father Geoff Hopkins were on Whakaari/White Island minutes before it erupted.

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The eruption turned from something 'stunning' to something sinister, Geoff Hopkins says.

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But the pair - both trained in first aid - were back on the boat in time to see ash-covered victims running into the sea.

'There were 23 people that had their lives in our hands,' Lillani told Stuff. 'It was probably the longest two hours of my life.'

The University of Waikato student earned her first aid certificate through working with children.

'But it was for putting plasters on children when they fall over.'

Instead she found herself in triage, assessing people by placing green, orange and yellow tags on them to indicate those most at risk of dying.

At least five people were killed following the eruption on Monday, with eight missing, believed dead and 31 injured, many critically.

After the 'completely silent' eruption, the boatful of White Island visitors began taking photos.

'We were like how lucky are we getting to witness a volcanic eruption so close.

'But the ash cloud, as well as rising, it started to roll.'

The sight quickly transformed from a stunning one, into 'something sinister', Geoff, a Hamilton pastor at Arise Church, said.

Passengers were told to get below decks while the boat headed back to shore to help survivors.

Another boat, which had been docked, was completely grey. Seconds later, ash-covered people began running into the sea and taking shelter in rocks on the shore as the ash enveloped the island.

'[The crew] started to pull people out of the water but we were all told to stay inside,' Lillani said.

'Thirty seconds later one of the crew came [below deck] and said 'is anyone a doctor, is anyone a first aider, we need help'. The crew were in shock. They said 'we've got multiple burn victims and we need help'.

'I've never seen burns like it. It was horrific. The people just kept coming and coming.'

Two doctors, Lillani and her father - among the only New Zealanders - began putting their first aid training to use. Geoff was allocated about five critical patients, while Lillani looked after two.

Other passengers fetched water and laid their clothes on the victims.

'We were all in our bras because we were trying to keep people warm … [The victims] were all in wet clothes and then they went into shock.

'People are cold but they're burning.'

Exposed parts of people's bodies - such as their faces and feet - were covered in raw-looking burns and clay-like ash. Underneath clothes, many people were scorched and blistered.

'We had to clean people. People's tongues were burnt, we had to clear their airways and their eyes.'

Many victims - mostly overseas visitors - drifted in and out of consciousness, crying.

'In the last 10 minutes we ran out for fresh water and there was nothing I could do but be with them.

'So it was just trying to reassure people that help was on the way, that they were going to be OK … And just keep them alive.

'A lot of people were just screaming and crying. The whole way back.'

'I sat with one guy and I just sat holding his hand and quietly singing to him. And that stopped him screaming. I'm not a great singer, I was just humming away trying to make some kind of positive energy. And whenever I stopped…'

Many of those that escaped unscathed went into shock. Lillani is surprised - but grateful - that she didn't go into shock herself.

'I think it was because I knew people needed help and their lives depended on it. I was scared, but I wasn't as scared as them.'

She knows the things she saw will haunt her for a long time, but Lillani says she is relieved she was there to help in some way.

'I didn't sleep much last night.'

Geoff says a 'switch' clicked inside him and his daughter, launching them into rescue mode.

He spent a lot of time with one woman, drifting in and out of consciousness, who kept asking how bad her burns looked.

'She was saying 'is it bad? I can't feel things'.

'She would say 'I don't think I'm going to make it' and I said 'it's not an option'.

'To hear that five people we brought back didn't make it, that they died overnight and to not know who they are, that's the hard thing.'