Woman severely burnt in volcano disaster that killed 22 people shares how she looks five years on

Despite surviving the deadly White Island volcano disaster back in 2019, Stephanie Coral Browitt was left with excruciating and life-changing burns.

But now, five years on from the devastating eruption, Stephanie has revealed how she looks today and the lengths she continues to go to in order to heal and move on with her life.

It was on December 9, 2019 when a volcanic eruption happened on Whakaari/White Island, located off the coast of eastern North Island, New Zealand.

The volcano, known by its Māori name of Whakaar, had reportedly been showing signs of unrest in the weeks leading up to its eruption - but regardless of this, tourists were still allowed to visit the island on that fateful day.

The eruption resulted in the deaths of 22 people - almost half of the people who were on the island at the time - with the majority being tourists from Australia and the US.

A further 25 people were injured, suffering horrific burns caused by a pyroclastic flow, which is made up gas and volcanic material.

One of those injured was Stephanie, a 23-year-old Australian woman who had been enjoying a cruise holiday across New Zealand.

Speaking to PEOPLE in March of this year, Stephanie, now 28, recalled the traumatising day, which saw her sadly lose her dad Paul and sister Krystal.

"Within seconds, we realized it was erupting and we all began to run for our lives. It all happened so fast that we had no chance of escaping it," she said of the moment the volcano began to erupt.

Despite being hit by the agonising pyroclastic flow, Stephanie remembers thinking about her mum, who had stayed behind on the ship due to her Multiple Sclerosis (MS), and simply thought: "She needs us, I have to survive for her."

While Stephanie managed to make it out alive, she ended up being kept in hospital for an excruciating six months, which saw her have eight of her fingers amputated and 70 percent of her body - including her face, hands, legs, abdomen, back and chest - be covered in full-thickness burns.

A full-thickness burn is where all three layers of skin - the epidermis, dermis and subcutis - are damaged, the NHS explains.

The skin is often burnt away and the tissue underneath may appear pale or blackened, while the remaining skin will be dry and white, brown or black with no blisters.

Hyperbaric chambers, various forms of therapy, including speech sessions, laser treatments and whole-body compression garments also aided Stephanie in her long road to recovery.

"Learning to love myself in my new skin has taken time," she said. "I was extremely self-conscious and worried about being judged every day."

Despite the grief, pain and turmoil that Stephanie has been through these past five years, she's reached many milestones - including wearing a two-piece swimsuit for the first time since the accident, as well as revealing to her 1.8 million TikTok followers how she looks.

"5 years on & this is what my burns care looks like now," Stephanie wrote as the caption on her recent post, which showed an ordinary day in her life that still includes weekly occupational therapy for her hands.

Speaking of the therapy, she explained: "I think it still makes a huge difference for my hands and their function, whilst also looking after my skin.

"The last thing I want is for my hands to go backwards and seems I'm still seeing positive changes I will continue going weekly."

Stephanie still looks after her skin and moisturises all over her body daily, as well as using oils and sun cream which has helped her skin improve over the years.

While it may look like Stephanie is back on track and thriving, she admitted to PEOPLE it's been a slow and steady journey.

"I was taught in hospital to take things one day at a time and that’s something I always remind myself of now," she said. "Otherwise, you'll find it difficult to overcome anything."

Her goal now is to advocate for other burn survivors like herself by sharing her story on social media.

"Representation truly matters when it comes to healing. I needed that as I was recovering," she explained. "Seeing other people with burns and living a good life gave me back hope that my future wasn’t all lost."

In 2023, NZ company Whakaari Management Limited was found guilty of not 'minimising risk' to the 22 people who died in the accident.

The company - which licenses tours to the volcanic island - was criticised by Judge Evangelos Thomas over their 'astonishing failures', the BBC reported.

A year later, $10.21 million (NZ) was ordered to be paid to families of victims and survivors in an Auckland court.