Three members of a Victorian family shattered by the New Zealand volcano eruption could be back in Melbourne by Thursday night.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Family friend Steven Galea says he spoke with Marie Browitt on Thursday morning, as she maintained a bedside vigil for her daughter Stephanie at a Christchurch hospital.
Stephanie, her sister Krystal and their father Paul visited White Island, also known as Whakaari, while Marie decided to stay on the cruise ship.
Krystal is missing, while Stephanie has been in a coma and Mr Browitt has already been flown back to Australia for further treatment.
Krystal was reportedly on the cruise as part of her 21st birthday celebrations.
"She (Marie) is not coping. Who copes with this? No one. You just try to get through it. Four people went on a plane and three came back," Mr Galea said.
"Questions like, 'What do you need?' are met with, 'I need my family alive'. How do you respond to that?"
Mr Galea said Paul Browitt had been airlifted to Melbourne's Alfred Hospital, while there were hopes of an imminent return for Marie and Stephanie.
"Marie has told me she was hoping they would fly them back individually to Australia," he said.
The Alfred said in a statement one patient from the White Island eruption had arrived around 9am on Thursday and it anticipated receiving other patients later in the day.
Mr Galea has set up a GoFundMe campaign to help the family and it has raised almost $27,000 in one day.
"This is a nightmare and they've been living it," he said.
Mr Galea said he felt helpless not being in NZ and added the campaign was the only way he thought he could assist the family.
He said he reached out to Marie Browitt to make sure she approved of his campaign and made her aware she would be the full beneficiary of the donations.
"They're a working class family. They're going to need money when they get back. Funerals cost money, flights cost money, I don't know, life costs money," Mr Galea said.
"She doesn't care about any of this right now, her focus is on her family and being with them."
Eight Australians are confirmed dead and two more are presumed to have died in the volcano eruption.
Australian Associated Press
