A former Waimate woman has finally been added to the list of casualties from the Wahine disaster 40 years ago.
A revised list, unveiled in Wellington yesterday, included the name of May Elizabeth Brightwell, the 53rd victim.
The sinking in Wellington harbour on April 10, 1968, claimed 51 lives.
The name of the 52nd victim, Gordon Hick, was added 18 years ago, when he died as the result of brain damage received as a baby when the ferry sank.
Brightwell family members contacted staff at the Museum of Wellington last year inquiring whether Mrs Brightwell's name could be added to the list of victims.
They found her death certificate, which stated she had died of injuries received when Wahine ran aground on Barrett Reef and subsequently capsized.
They said museum director Brett Mason agreed the anomaly should be corrected.
Mrs Brightwell was travelling to Wellington on Wahine to surprise her son for his birthday.
She was pulled from the sea and spent about a week in Hutt Hospital, followed by several days with her son.
Just days after returning to Waimate, she suffered a blood clot in a lung and died. She was buried on what would have been her 67th birthday.
Members of her family, including daughter Natalie Pierce, of Timaru, attended the ceremony at the museum.
Earlier in the day, a plaque recognising the efforts of rescuers was unveiled by Wahine survivor Shirley Hick, of Shannon. She was the driving force behind the plaque, which is mounted on the Wahine mast at Frank Kitts Park on the harbour front.
She told a crowd of about 200 she lost ‘‘a beautiful angel'' in her 3-year-old daughter Alma in the disaster and another in her son Gordon in 1990. ‘‘We will never forget the people who rescued us,''
Mrs Hick told the crowd, many of them survivors and rescuers. - with NZPA
