**Warning – this is an extremely long passion blog, but it was necessary to cover all the points in the story. It truly is inspirational and if you want to get a basic idea of what its about, just scroll to the bottom and watch the video.
What if you could say that 10 years ago, you saved hundreds of lives?
In 2004, a great tsunami in the Indian Ocean hit the coast Thailand. You may remember news reports flashing on the television from when it happened. Thousands of people were affected and injured by the tsunami, and many lost or separated from their loved ones during the disaster. Fortunately, there were a few great heroes that contributed significantly to saving people’s lives during this time.
The first is Tilly Smith, a girl who is around our age and was just 10 years old when the tsunami hit. In her fifth grade class, she was learning about tsunamis, and one of the indicators of a great wave is that the tide abnormally recedes. While on vacation in Thailand, she saw that exact indicator occurring to the ocean. Seeing this as a warning sign that a tsunami was about to hit the beaches, Tilly alerted her parents, who subsequently warned the resort. Tilly was able to save hundreds of lives by warning these people to go to higher grounds, and she won various awards as well as a visit to the UN for her heroic actions.
Other families weren’t as fortunate. The second hero of the story is named Maria Belon, who was also on vacation in Thailand with her husband and three sons. Originally from Spain, Maria worked as a doctor. When the tsunami hit, Maria was lounging in the resort with her one son while her husband was in the pool with the other two. The massive wave hurled Maria against trees and other debris, and she was underwater for three minutes until she clung onto a tree for her life.
Her family was nowhere to be found. In a matter of minutes, Maria saw her life flash before her eyes, and now her family was missing. A few minutes later, she saw a head bob out of water, and she gratefully recognized it as her son. Both clung onto the tree, desperately hanging on to life, just as thousands of others who were hit by the tsunami were.
Within the next few hours, a local man found Maria and her son, both with severe scratches and wounds, in the tree and took them to a nearby resting house that was located on higher ground. Inside the resting house, there were many other people, locals and tourists, who had been injured by the tsunami. Though she had deep wounds on her chest and leg, Maria adopted her responsibility as a doctor and began treating the injured people around her. Many of these people, especially the local of Thailand, were less fortunate than her, and she felt a moral obligation as both a doctor and human being to help them when they needed it.
In the end, the locals of Thailand repaid Maria for her actions toward them by making it a priority to reunite her with the rest of her family. With an arsenal of people, determination, and a little bit of faith, Maria’s husbands and other two sons were found at a hospital, and their family was miraculously brought together again after the disaster.
Overall, this story of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami is a story of miracles. In a time of disaster, people come together to help one another, surpassing language barriers and disregarding ethnic differences. Tilly Smith managed to save hundreds of people, and Maria was able to put her problems aside to come to the aid of those who otherwise would not be able to help themselves.
This entire story is showcased in an Australian feature film titled The Impossible. Though I have not seen the movie, I definitely plan to in the future to get a full perspective of this inspiration behind this miracle.
The Belon family at The Impossible premiere – image courtesy of mirror.co.uk
The Impossible trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bgw394ZKsis
I think it’s refreshing to see so many inspirational stories in spite of all the tragedies that occur in the world. There is always at least one hero in every seemingly bad circumstance, and it’s also important to look on the bright sides of some things. We hear all too much about the violence and destruction happening in the world, but we forget the heroes.