A CHILLING photo has emerged of a smiling tourist couple just moments before they were buried alive in New Zealand’s White Island eruption. Rick and Ivy Kohn Reed, who suffered critical injuries in the December 9 tragedy, shared the final photo taken of them shortly before the killer eruption. The American couple look relaxed and […]
A CHILLING photo has emerged of a smiling tourist couple just moments before they were buried alive in New Zealand’s White Island eruption.
Rick and Ivy Kohn Reed, who suffered critical injuries in the December 9 tragedy, shared the final photo taken of them shortly before the killer eruption.
The American couple look relaxed and happy during their day trip to New Zealand’s White Island, posing for the camera while steam rises from the crater behind them.
Just 15 minutes later, the popular North Island tourism destination erupted underneath them, burying the pair under hot volcanic ash and toxic gases
21 tourists were killed in the tragedy, and another 26 seriously injured.
The couple shared the image on a GoFundMe page as part of their efforts to raise money for their medical treatment and rehabilitation following their miraculous survival.
In her first public comment since the tragedy, Ivy wrote: “This is the last picture taken of us before our lives changed forever.”
“Approximately 15 minutes after this was taken, the White Island volcano erupted, burying us in hot volcanic ash and toxic gases.”
“Our dream vacation turned into a nightmare that we are still trying to comprehend.”
The American couple spent almost eight weeks in a New Zealand hospital receiving critical care treatment after the eruption.
They have both undergone gruelling skin grafts and it’s understood Rick faced three separate operations after suffering burns to 30 per cent of his body, including his hands, legs and face.
He also required physical therapy to help him start walking again as a result of his injuries.
Ivy had two surgeries for burns to 20 per cent of her body, including her hands, face and right leg.
The American couple were recently airlifted home to the US to continue with their recovery from the severe burns they suffered.
Ivy wrote it was a “scary time” as she and her husband tried to come to terms with their life-changing injuries.
She then thanked those who had offered “support, prayers, good wishes, cards, texts, messages and calls”, saying they had “helped us through some tough days.”
But she added: “The next year will be the hardest of our lives while we try to rehab and regain as much functionality as possible.”
“We have returned home! This is happy news we wanted to share, but it is also scary, as we figure out what we can and can’t do.”
Ivy signed off her message by writing: “Much love”.
The GoFundMe page has raised almost $40,000 of their $50,000 target.
Many of the survivors of the December 9 tragedy still remain in hospitals in Australia, New Zealand and the United States recovering from their burns and other injuries.
Official inquiries into the eruption and New Zealand’s response will take up to a year, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has said.
A scientific monitoring camera appeared to capture a group of tourists walking through the volcano’s crater at 2.10pm – just one minute before the eruption.
The camera – which takes a new still image every ten minutes – did not take another clear shot, and is believed to have been buried in rubble from the blast.
Just below Earth's outer crust is a layer of magma, or liquid rock, known as the mantle.
Volcanoes form when pressure in the mantle begins to build, and magma is forced up through gaps in the Earth’s crust.
In certain conditions, such as movements of the planet’s tectonic plates or currents of heat in the mantle, the pressure will build further and, eventually, the volcano will erupt, throwing magma into the air.
New Zealand lies on the so-called Ring of Fire, a 25,000-mile chain of 452 volcanoes around the edge of the Pacific Ocean.
The ring runs up past Asia and Russia, across to Alaska, and down the westerly coasts of North and South America.
Since 1850, about 90 per cent of the most powerful eruptions in the world have happened along this boundary.
White Island was a very active volcano and questions are now being raised about whether tourists should ever have been allowed to visit.
Dr. Jessica Johnson, a volcanologist at the University of East Anglia, told the Guardian that increased numbers of small earthquakes and more volcanic gas detected than usual in recent weeks had seen the alert level raised.
Even with the alert levels raised, volcanic eruptions are notoriously difficult to predict.
Speaking to the Australia Science Media Centre, Raymond Cas of Monash University’s School of Earth, Atmosphere, and Environment described White Island as a “disaster waiting to happen”.
“Having visited it twice, I have always felt that it was too dangerous to allow the daily tour groups,” he said.
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