He wrote to New Zealand media from Australia saying as much, hoping Marshall-Inman's family would see what he called a belated thank you. Marshall-Inman appeared to have been trying to save more lives in the moments before Monday's eruption, which his brother Mark Inman has said isn't surprising. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video "His footsteps were going back to help on White Island," he said. "He was a true hero." Mr Paterson says his 2016 tour of White Island - led by Mr Marshall-Inman - was a highlight despite the disaster on the trip back.

He got a sense of how scary the island could be during an eruption and wouldn't be surprised if the recent tragedy permanently stops tours there, but he hopes it won't. "I think that would be a pity if it did. It's a sensational place. I can certainly understand that there mightn't be any [tours] for a while. Brendan Paterson in Whakatāne on January 18 after Hayden Marshall-Inman plucked him and his son from the sea. Credit:Stuff "We just had a ball on the island itself ... Hayden answered 50 million questions from Elliot [who has autism] with a great deal of patience." Mr Paterson took the tour with Elliot and older son William.

It was the only thing the family booked before they came to New Zealand, as Elliot's obsession with both volcanoes and Maori culture brought them over. Elliot's knowledge prompted Mr Marshall-Inman to ask if they were Kiwis, and Mr Paterson urged his son to do a haka. "[His] reaction was he gave Elliot a big hug and said, you'll go far mate," Mr Paterson said. When fire broke out on the boat trip back, Mr Paterson was stuck between flames and choppy seas with his two boys - then aged 12 and 13. "There weren't enough life jackets for everyone. I stayed on the boat with my two boys a lot longer than I wanted to ... I wanted to wait until there were other boats nearby that could see him," Mr Paterson said.

Loading "I sort of knew that once the three of us ended up in the water, because it was so rough, there wouldn't have been much that I could do for either of [my sons]. It was hard enough to keep myself swimming." As the boats approached, his eldest son William jumped and was pulled into one of them. Mr Paterson and Elliot, who couldn't swim well, jumped next. A big wave pushed Elliot under the boat, obscuring him from view, then Mr Marshall-Inman pulled up in a boat. He grabbed Elliot and manouevred his way back to collect Mr Paterson, who had breathed in a lot of smoke and was struggling.

"Not just him but everybody else who was on PeeJay V ... they were all very, very professional and at least calm on the outside," he said. "They were in a fairly awful situation but I don't think any of them could have done any more than what they did." Marshall-Inman pulled Australian tourists Brendan Paterson and his son Elliot out of the water when their White Island tour boat caught fire on the way back to shore in January 2016. Credit:Stuff In the chaos of the day, Mr Paterson never got Mr Marshall-Inman's name. Mr Marshall-Inman's brother said he was the kind of person who would do anything to help others or show New Zealand to tourists.