A teenage volcano survivor has shown off his dramatic recovery after surviving the White Island volcano eruption on December 9, 2019, which left him with burns on over 80 percent of his body.
Jake Milbank was celebrating his 19th birthday at the time of the explosion, and a day later, he would have been celebrating his one year anniversary of working as a tour guide on the New Zealand island.
However, his celebrations were cut short when the volcano erupted at 2:11 PM. The eruption killed 21 of the 47 people on the island, and those who didn't die suffered severe injuries.
Nearly six months later, in an interview with Newshub, the 19-year-old has now opened up about the fight-or-flight response he experienced after the explosion and his 90-minute journey back to the mainland with critical injuries.
Listen to Milbank describe his fight-or-flight response below:"You know what you've gotta do to survive and that's all I was really thinking about doing at the time," he said. "(I was) just trying to stay awake, and constantly reminding myself and having others around me reminding me that we were nearly back and it was all gonna be all good."
After the incident, Milbank was in the hospital for four months, and he spent two weeks of this time in a coma. He then endured 25 surgeries to repair the damage done by the eruption to his skin.
"It's definitely been a challenge, but I mean, all it's really gonna do is build character," he told Newshub. "There's nothing I can do about it except try my hardest to get back to where I was before the eruption, there's no point at looking at it negatively."
The 19-year-old is now undergoing extensive rehabilitation to get his life basic movements back, and he's hoping that he will soon be able to enjoy activities like fishing again with friends.
"Every day you notice, 'Oh I can take my sock off a little bit further' or something like that, it is pretty cool to see," he said.
Milbank lives in Whakatane, and he can see White Island from there. When asked if he'd go back, he said: "It does send shivers down the spine a little bit, gives you the goosebumps. "I wouldn't get too close, but yeah I definitely would like to go and have another look."
We wish Jake and all those injured in the eruption all the best in their recoveries.
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