Our Story

India wrote this letter to Emily Willgrass who lost her mum Louise in the Tsunami in Patong Thailand.

Dear Emily

I am so sorry to hear what happened to you - it must have been awful.

You see what happened with us was that my mum decided we should go on a kayak so we did. I told my dad he could have a go after me - but of course that wasn’t going to happen – my dad didn’t like the water much. Mum and I started to paddle out happily when suddenly the water started to go murky and brown. We didn’t have a clue what was happening. Then the water started to go down and the coral came up beside us we had to push ourselves off them. Then the Island started to move - it was terrifying. We were screaming for help there were some boats they were rocking franticly and we were paddling trying to reach them. The next thing I knew I turned around and the beach had been swallowed up.

I wish I had said goodbye. What would my dad have been thinking watching us without a clue knowing that something was wrong? It’s really hard.

Then the next thing was we were swept in with the giant wave and facing us was a massive wall of water. We were plunged into the water, I was so stupid and didn’t do up my life jacket and was pulled to the bottom. I hit into many things just as I was about to lose my life when my mum-who had been dragged to the surface because of her lifejacket - grabbed my hand and pulled me up. I screamed as another wave came over us and dragged me under again. Suddenly I hit into a pile of debris, which was all that was left of our hotel that had collapsed. There was a mattress and I grabbed on to it. I was being sucked under the building but luckily I dragged my self up on to it and climbed higher. I was weak and extremely faint.

My mum was wedged between some pieces of metal and had a massive cut on her foot.
I wasn’t too bad I had a few bruises and a cut on my leg. Did you have any injuries? We sat there for three hours holding on whilst other waves came in. It was very frightening and I could see all the waves but my mum couldn’t so I kept calling out to her to hold on. There was a woman holding on to a tree and I kept calling to her to hold on too – she was in a state.

We couldn’t see anyone else on the beach but there were people calling for loved ones, people calling out for help. I wish I could have done something but I couldn’t. Then some Americans came and helped us down. We told then about this woman who was badly injured and we helped them carry her on an umbrella to a restaurant high up. We prayed a lot for my dad and thanked him for our lives not knowing whether another Tsunami would happen any time when we were walking over the rubble and not knowing if we would die.

We came to the restaurant and climbed up with the lady. Some people who were trying to help gave us a drink and treated my mum a bit and wrapped some old sheet around her cuts. There were already dead bodies near by covered in newspaper and people calling out that they had found another body. I couldn’t cry at this point - I was too shocked.

Suddenly a man came up and told us we must get higher if we could, because everyone was scared there would be another wave. So we climbed up the hill. My clothes were ripped and feet were sore there were some people from England that helped my mum.
We had to climb up more and we had to chop down branches to get to the top. One time my mum fell and I fell forwards over her and put my hands out to stop my self and landed on a tree, which was covered in spikes - it really hurt.

Eventually we reached the top of the hill where there were a lot of people, children and adults, westerners and Thai’s. There were over 100 of them sitting down. Mum and I sat ourselves down next to some German girls who were nice to me and talked to me. I went to look for my dad and cried out and sobbed but he didn’t come so I went back. It was coming to night fall and some of the men went down and brought up blankets and some food, I did not have an appetite at all .We all laid the sheets down in the forest floor and talked some more. Some people were crying but most people were too shocked to cry. I was stroking an old ladies head to comfort her The night drew on we heard boats beeping the horn and helicopters overhead but we didn’t dare go down. Mum kept saying “dad will be fine I am sure” but I know my dad wasn’t a strong swimmer at all.

Half way through the night when we were just dropping to sleep there was a rampage down the hill. The Thai people had panicked and rushed down the hill where we were and we just got up before they trampled over the top of us. They had set a tree on fire and some people put it out everyone was angry and shouting to calm down and it was scary. This happened about 3 times in the night and at the end we all just sat up and waited for the dawn to come. It was so scary, there were ant’s bighting us and when I needed the toilet and had to go in a bush. I was so scared in case something bit me. We tried to think of happy thoughts, but it didn’t work.

It was near morning and the sun was coming up. A lot of the Thai people started rushing down the hill but we waited and tore up the sheets and wrapped them round our feet and wrists as protection. When it was safe we made our way back down the slippery hill. I was worrying so much about another Tsunami. When we got down and said goodbye to the English people who had helped us and decided to go to the pier and shout for dad see if there were any boats to get off the Island. We had no idea what had happening but we had to climb over piles of rubble and there were dead people everywhere.

We arrived at the pier and there was no sign of dad - we just hoped that he was OK and we would find him. We had to wait in a massive cue for 2 hours in the blistering sun people where pushing and panicking everyone was shouting. Boats came in and people were chucking bottles water out which was great but you had to be careful in case you got hit. Finally we got on a boat back to Phuket where we were taken to Hospital. It was such a relief to be going away from Phi Phi. We didn’t find my dad alive although my Auntie Gill and Tim came to help us find him. His body was found later.

That’s my story. I am so sorry to hear about your mum. Don’t worry I feel the same way as you. I am lonely because my mum is always busy and doesn’t have so much time for me anymore. I can’t face the sea but I can still go swimming it doesn’t bother me that much. Do you find you like to be around your friends more - I do?

I get really jumpy when things come on TV about things like tsunamis. There was this program that was called “super volcano” that made me so scared that the world was going to end that I stayed up for 2 nights up at the top of my house. I like to be up high it makes me feel safe. But really nothing make me feel safe now.

It was nice hearing from you
From India
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