Aussie woman who lost her husband and daughter in White Island volcano tragedy reveals her bond with hero cab driver – and the touching reason she wants to move to New Zealand

A mother and daughter still recovering from a devastating natural disaster on a tourist island have revealed the kind-hearted act from a taxi driver, who has become an honourary member of their family.

Marie Browitt’s family of four was halved when the volcano on White Island, off the coast of New Zealand’s north island, erupted on December 9, 2019. It claimed the lives of 22 tourists who had been on a cruise ship excursion.

Ms Browitt’s 55-year-old husband, Paul, and 21-year-old daughter, Krystal, were among those who died, while her eldest daughter, Steph, suffered severe burns to more than 70 per cent of her body.

The then-23-year-old went on to spend six months undergoing intensive treatment at the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne with her grieving mother glued to her side.

But in the brief moments Marie needed to step away from her daughter’s bed, there was someone by her side too.

Azamatlihan was working a regular shift as a taxi driver when he picked up Marie, who began crying in his car.

‘I asked, ‘Why are you crying?’ and she said, ‘We are victims of the volcano’. I was shocked. They’ve came back up from hell,’ Azamatlihan told 60 Minutes on Sunday.

Marie recalled: ‘He said, ‘Here’s my number. Any time of day, any time of night, I don’t care what time it is – you ring me and I will be there’. And he was.’

For several years Azamatlihan was the mother and daughter’s main transport to and from the hospital.

‘They see me like a family member. I have another family, you know. My own family and them,’ Azamatlihan said.

The Browitts have also remembered the kindness shown to them by the locals of Whakatāne, the town closest to White Island.

When the conditions were deemed too dangerous for helicopters to be sent to the volcanic island immediately after the 2019 eruption, several local helicopter pilots took off from the town to perform their own rescues.

Among those rescues was that of Krystal.

Marie and Steph were invited back to Whakatāne and got to meet with the heroes who witnessed their loved one’s last moments.

The mother finally got to have her most haunting questions answered – who was the last person to hold her daughter? Who picked her up off the island?

‘I don’t know what it was about the beautiful people, the warmth that we were immersed in and the love that surrounded us, but I felt some sort of peace,’ Marie said.

‘I came back different. I can’t explain it, I can’t put it to words. 

‘I want to go back. I wished I could live there so I could feel close to my child. 

‘I feel a pull to this island. I really do.’

Marie was the only member of the family to stay on the Ovation of the Seas cruise ship when the volcano erupted.

Stephanie said because her mother wasn’t physically hurt by the eruption, nobody can understand the true depth of her pain and suffering. 

She previously described how her mother had to pack the families holiday luggage and bring it back to their empty Melbourne home that was usually filled with love and laughter.  

‘Then eventually she had to organise both my dad and sisters funeral. She went home alone in a taxi upon burying her family. Her screams were heard,’ she wrote. 

Thirteen parties were charged over the deaths of the 22 people who died in the volcanic eruption. 17 of those deaths were Australians. 

Tours to White Island continued despite warnings of a heightened risk of eruption, sparking an investigation into the volcano.

‘This deeply tragic event was unexpected. That does not mean it was unforeseeable,’ WorkSafe NZ chief executive Phil Parkes said.

‘There were 47 people on the island at the time of the eruption, all of whom suffered serious injuries and trauma.’