Woman who survived volcano eruption with severe burns and eight fingers amputated reveals what she looks like 5 years later

Daily Mail​

14 hours ago

A survivor of the White Island volcanic eruption who suffered unimaginable burns in the disaster which killed her family members has given an update on her injuries five years on from the disaster which claimed 22 lives.
Stephanie Browitt, from Melbourne, Australia, was left with burns to 70 per cent of her body and had eight fingers amputated after the blast in New Zealand in December 2019. She also lost her father, Paul, and sister, Krystal, 21, in the eruption.
The 29-year-old spent two weeks in a coma fighting for her life with third-degree burns to the majority to her body.
Miracle survivor: Stephanie Browitt was left in a coma for two weeks after being horrifically burnt in the White Island volcanic eruption
In a video posted to her TikTok account on Friday, Stephanie revealed what a day in her life looks like five years after the tragedy, saying she still undergoes occupational therapy for her hands weekly.
She said: 'I think it still makes a huge difference for my hands and their function, whilst also looking after my skin.
'The last thing I want is for my hands to go backwards and seems I'm still seeing positive changes I will continue going weekly.'
In the video, a therapist can be seen massaging Stephanie's hands and what remains of her fingers with wax.
She also shared that she attends weekly physiotherapy sessions to maintain her muscle strength.
Stephanie added: 'Everything I learn in physio I take home with me and use at the gym, staying on top of my routine means my body and skin both feel better for it.'
Stephanie makes skincare a daily priority, regularly applying oil and moisturizer to both her face and body to improve her skin texture.
She said: 'I'm still moisturizing and looking after the skin all over my body, my skin texture has improved so much and I want to make sure that it stays that way.
'Everyday morning and night I moisturize and I rub it in very deeply on top of moisturizing I also use body oil because my skin deserves extra love and care.
'I also keep on top of my facial skincare, I start off with a serum to help battle the redness and skin discoloration I have and then I moisturize because keeping my skin supple is important to me.
'Lastly, I finish off with sunscreen which is one of the most important steps in your skincare.'
Stephanie's video comes after she removed her face compression bandage for the first time during an interview with 60 Minutes Australia in 2022.
Looking into a mirror afterwards, the young woman said she now sees 'a person who has gone through much more than I ever expected in life'.
'I am tougher than I ever thought I would be,' she said.
'I think I have learnt that the fight for survival is a real thing. I was fighting everyday to survive, just to get back to myself. I never knew I had this in me.'
The family from Melbourne were on a trip of a lifetime aboard the Royal Caribbean when they embarked on a day excursion to the volcano, an activity offered by the cruise company.
Stephanie's mother Marie decided to stay on the ship while her two daughters and husband went to explore.
But just as they were leaving the crater, they saw black smoke spewing from its centre.
'Only a few seconds later, we heard the front tour guide scream "Run" and that's when we realized and made the split-second decision to just bolt,' Stephanie recalled.
'It was coming from behind and getting louder and louder as it was coming closer and you could hear all the rocks. You could hear the sound of all the rocks hitting the ground and people just screaming.
'I didn't think I would survive...I thought I was going to die.'
Stephanie was stuck on the island for hours before she and her father were rescued and eventually airlifted back to hospital in Australia.
Krystal, 21, never made it off the island alive and her body was retrieved days later during a recovery operation. Their father Paul died from his injuries a month after the blast.
in 2022, Stephanie shared never-before seen photos of her horrific injuries during the six months she spent in hospital undergoing rounds of grueling surgeries, which included the amputation of her fingers.
The graphic images show the extent of the burns, which stripped layers off her head, back, arms, torso, and legs, leaving her exposed limbs in need of numerous skin grafts.
Despite the unimaginable physical pain she has endured, the most painful part of her ordeal has been learning to live without her father and sister.
'I wish my dad and sister were still alive and still with me,' she said.
'I wish that day would leave me, it has caused me many sleepless nights... nightmares.
'There are many times when my mind won't shut off. Even now, it still hurts a lot. I just hope my sister and dad can see me now and what I have gone through.'
Stephanie credits her remarkable recovery to her mother Marie, who she says 'pushed her through from the very first day' she was hospitalized.
While she wishes her dad and sister were still here, she is incredibly glad at least one person in her family survived so her mother didn't lose everyone.
'Whilst my scars are visible, she has her own that aren't visible, but she has always made sure to put me first,' Stephanie said.
Forty-seven people were on the island off the coast of Whakatane on December 9 2019, when a volcano erupted.
Most of those killed and injured were tourists who had been travelling from Australia aboard the Royal Caribbean cruise ship Ovation of the Seas.
At about 2.11pm on December 9, 2019, the volcano erupted, triggering a powerful mushroom cloud of gas, steam and ash more than 3,600m into the air.
The horror of the event sent shockwaves through Australia and New Zealand, as families were left in limbo waiting to hear if their loved ones had survived.
Terrified friends and relatives used the Red Cross Family Links website to post missing persons reports as the death toll continued to rise.
The eruption, which killed 22 people and seriously injured 25, became New Zealand's deadliest volcanic disaster since the eruption of Mount Tarawera of 1886.
Of the 22 killed, 14 were Australians, changing the lives of dozens of families forever.
Day tours out to White Island once brought in more than $4million a year but the picturesque island is now deserted, with layers of ash a reminder of the disaster.
Since the tragedy, Stephanie has become a burns advocate, sharing her remarkable recovery journey with her more than 1.8 million TikTok and 202,000 Instagram followers.