A Montgomery County couple are suffering from third- and fourth-degree burns after they were caught in a Dec. 9 volcanic eruption in New Zealand, according to relatives. Their family is now crowdfunding to raise money to cover their medical bills and lost income.
Rick Reed and Ivy Kohn Reed, both of Gaithersburg, Maryland, were on vacation visiting Reed鈥檚 son Mike in Australia before taking a cruise to New Zealand. That鈥檚 how they ended up at White Island, New Zealand, on the day of a serious volcanic eruption that left 18 dead and more than two dozen with severe burns.
鈥淭heir tour group had already visited the crater, so they were walking away,鈥� said Barry Kohn, brother of Ivy Kohn Reed. 鈥淲hich is in essence what probably saved their lives 鈥� that they were a little further away.鈥�
Kohn told 海角精品黑料 that Rick鈥檚 son Mike called his father鈥檚 cellphone when he saw news of the eruption; it was picked up by a nurse at a hospital. Mike then reached out to Kohn and his brother via Facebook Messenger, who set about determining Ivy鈥檚 condition and piecing together what happened.
鈥淚 have spoken with my sister twice,鈥� Kohn told 海角精品黑料. 鈥淚鈥檝e not spoken with Rick [but] we know his condition is worse than hers.鈥�
Kohn said the couple has third-degree burns 鈥減retty much anywhere there was full skin exposure,鈥� but that Reed additionally has some fourth-degree burns.
鈥淗e鈥檚 been burned on around 40% of his body because he was wearing short sleeves and shorts,鈥� Kohn said.
He said Reed has 鈥渉ad multiple surgeries already,鈥� which gives the family confidence his condition is stable because he was healthy enough to undergo the stress of an operation.
The to cover the couple鈥檚 impending medical bills, airfare back to the United States and other associated costs.聽
鈥淭here are immediate medical bills to be concerned about,鈥� Kohn said. 鈥滲ut also we don’t understand yet what this means for them going forward.
鈥淲e still don鈥檛 know how long they鈥檙e going to have to stay in New Zealand聽鈥� we really don’t have a good handle on what kind of costs or what level of cost we鈥檙e looking at.鈥�
The GoFundMe page has raised nearly $20,000 of a posted $35,000 goal at time of writing.
鈥淚f nothing else, because so many friends and family have reached out to us asking what they could do to potentially help, we thought that maybe this would be a good way to help out Ivy and Rick,鈥� Kohn said. 鈥漀ot just in the immediate [future], but maybe down the road [as well].鈥�
