Mother tells of her ‘nightmare’ waiting for daughter to be rescued

A MOTHER has spoken of her relief after her daughter was take to safety following the devastating earthquake.

Katy Flay, 33, from Leeds, was on holiday on the Gili Trawangan island with her partner Steph when the seismic activity struck over the weekend.

Her mother, Paula Bairstow, said she feared her daughter could have ended up “in a body bag” as she anxiously waited for her to be rescued.

But, after hours of waiting, Mrs Bairstow said Miss Flay had now boarded a boat bound for Bali.

“She has been rescued now, thank God,” Mrs Bairstow said yesterday. “She is on a boat now back to Bali and then she is flying back to New Zealand. It’s fantastic news. We are elated as a family.”

Mrs Bairstow, 53, said a boat arrived at about 4.30pm and collected Miss Flay and others.

“Katy said she was very lucky to get on the ship,” she said.

“It has been an absolute nightmare. I thought she was going to die.”

Mrs Bairstow said the pair had shared a 30-second, tearful video call soon after Miss Flay boarded the boat to safety. “The expression on her face was ‘I thought I was going to die mum’, that’s the feeling that I got from her,” she said of the conversation.

“As a mother, I thought that she could be coming home in a body bag.”