Surviving White Island: An inspiring memoir of physical and mental recovery after surviving the New Zealand volcanic eruption

Kelsey Waghorn was born in Palmerston North and grew up in Whakatane on the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island. She discovered a passion for the sea and everything in it while still in high school. She gained a diploma in marine science and a degree in biological sciences. After graduating, she accepted a job taking tourists around Whakaari White Island so she could spend the summer on the sea. Five years and one day later, her whole life changed. On 9th December 2019, Whakaari White Island erupted, killing 22 people and severely injuring most of the others on the island at the time, including Kelsey. She received full thickness burns to 45% of her body, and has since undergone 17 surgeries, and hundreds of hours of rehab. She considered the physical part of her recovery the hardest thing she’d ever done, until the mental side of things kicked off. Diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) a year or so after the eruption, she battled flashbacks, hypervigilance, panic attacks, fear, depression, dissociation, isolation and more. Her book Surviving White Island tells her story and how she managed to find the help she so desperately needed. After a lot of work and a lot of healing, she is now living life to the fullest.