Guide who died on volcano is ‘true hero’
In the moments after Whakaari/ White Island erupted, Hayden Marshall-Inman’s concern was for the tourists.
His last known footsteps show he was going inland to help, according to one of the helicopter pilots who helped save lives.
The news is not surprising to his brother, Mark Inman, who told Stuff yesterday his brother would do anything to help people.
‘‘[He] was the last one off the boat, from all accounts, [and] from what I have heard from Tom [the pilot], his footsteps were going back to help on White Island. He was a true hero.
‘‘He had a love for kids, for people, a passion for the outdoors, he loved his job, loved the ocean.’’
Inman was also reeling from the news they received on Wednesday night – a refusal to allow him to privately recover his brother’s body.
He emailed Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s office saying he would like her to pardon his actions if he staged a personal recovery.
‘‘With the current conditions of sunshine baking and decomposing his body, he is going from a situation where we could have an open casket to now more likely not having a body at all – due to your government’s red tape and slow decision making,’’ Inman said in the email.
Staff from Ardern’s office said they passed his message to Police Minister Stuart Nash.
But on Wednesday night, Nash said a family member’s request to go on to White Island had been turned down.
Nash confirmed a letter had been received but said authorities would not allow access to the island because of safety concerns. He did not refer to Inman by name.
‘‘The last thing we want to do is to have further casualties in what is already a significant tragedy,’’ Nash said.
Inman said if Nash was going to criticise, he ‘‘better up his game, too’’.
‘‘I appreciate the sensitivity around the bodies and their states, we have to be careful and respectful, but we have to get them home,’’ Inman said.
‘‘There have been two perfect opportunities to go out there and we have not gone.
‘‘Red tape, bureaucracy, leadership, has failed.
‘‘We are trusting the experts that sit behind a desk making calls based on statistics, when you have got two pilots and a bunch of volunteers who go there every single day and know the island inside out, saying: let’s get it done.’’