The brother of one of the guides killed when Whakaari erupted wants to see better connections between survivors and victims' families to help those still healing from the tragic disaster.
The 2019 eruption on the popular tourist destination killed 22 people and injured 25.
On Friday, five companies were sentenced for health and safety failures and ordered to pay a collective $10.21 million in reparations and around $2 million in fines.
As part of the sentencing process, victim impact statements were read out, which saw those affected by the disaster talk about what they had experienced.
Speaking to Breakfast this morning, Mark Inman — whose brother Hayden Marshall-Inman, a guide, was killed in the disaster — said listening to the statements was an eye-opening experience.
"It was tough. You listen to those victim impact statements and all of a sudden you realise you're not alone," he said.
"You realise that these trials and tribulations that come with a moment like that, everybody suffers in a similar way.
"You resonate with everybody in that room."
He said he didn't understand why survivors and the families of victims hadn't discussed their experiences earlier.
Inman said that people from Whakatāne were easily able to talk following the disaster, but others who visited Whakaari from overseas felt "isolated" and "alone".
"I think it really is important that there are ways to bring people closer together in those situations."
He said that going forward there needs to be better ways to introduce people similarly affected by tragic events.
"Even if we had a few names and say 'hey, these people are able to be reached out to'.
"Being able to have that introduction, I guess, around these are the families or individuals who would like to find out more or be in communication with each other.
"It gives them an open forum to be able to feel safe, to talk about things."
SHARE ME