13 Jan 2020

Skin donations come in, in wake of Whakaari tragedy

From Summer Report, 7:13 am on 13 January 2020

Members of the public have offered to donate their own skin to help severely burnt victims of the Whakaari/White Island eruption.

Hospitals here and in Australia have required record amounts of skin for dressing victims' extensive heat and chemical burns, the scale of which has rarely been seen.

In an international effort, a 250,000 square centimetres - the equivalent of 14 full human bodies' worth of skin - has been used to try save the lives of the injured.

Jordan Bond reports.