'First instinct was to help': Tourist gave first aid to volcano victims
Geography student Lillani Hopkins had taken her father, Pastor Geoff Hopkins, on a visit to the island as a special 50th birthday present.
They boarded their boat only minutes before the fatal blast.
"The last thing I had done was take a boomerang on the crater to post on Instagram," Lillani told A Current Affair.
Lillani Hopkins and her father Geoff were touring the island just before it erupted. A Current Affair
Before they realised people were in danger, they said the sight of the eruption was awe-inspiring.
"I'm then on the seaward side of the island and I'm just alerted by people on the boat gasping and wowing, it was just unusual, which made me turn around and look," Geoff said.
"And as I turned around and looked, there was just this plume of grey and white ash and steam just rising high above the island."
The deadly eruption on White Island. Supplied
But within seconds, as the ash cloud rolled over the top of the cliff and down towards the sea, the awe turned to horror.
"The captain told us to get inside immediately, so we all ran inside, and I was still kind of amazed," Lillani said.
"By the time we got inside and sat down, the island was completely covered in ash you couldn't see it."
Lillani said her first instinct was to help the injured. A Current Affair
The boat turned around and headed straight back to the island.
"It was then into survival mode and rescue mode, and my first instinct was to help," Lillani said.
The crew asked for help from any passengers with medical training, and Lillani and her father both volunteered their first aid skills.
Geoff said he was very proud of his daughter. A Current Affair
"Originally I thought it would be eyewash, a few burns, but nothing major. I walked out and I've never seen anything like it," Lillani said.
"And I think from that point onwards, I was just helping any way that I could.
"We were dressing peoples' wounds, stopping bleeding from head injuries, clearing people's airways, clearing their eyes of ash so that they could see.
The boats delivered 23 people back to shore. A Current Affair
"I've never seen people burnt that bad, I've never seen people scream in so much pain."
Geoff said he was very proud of his daughter.
"She was praying with people, when they ran out of water she was just trying to comfort them, she was singing to some people just to take their mind off the environment and the pain that they were in," he said.
Their heroic efforts helped deliver 23 patients back to the dock and into the arms of emergency services.
"I can't imagine the pain that they were going through," Lillani said.
"People need reassurance, their life is flashing in front of them and they need someone to tell them that it is going to be okay."
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