A family-of-five were blown away by a 30-meter tsunami in Thailand, 2004.
The tsunami was triggered by an underwater earthquake and killed more than 230,000 people in fourteen countries.
Quique Alvarez and his wife Maria Belon had been lounging around the pool.
As Maria shouted at her son Lucas to get into the pool, she was tossed through a glass window and forced through the walls of the hotel.
Maria was horrifically wounded after being submerged into the water for more than three minutes. She described the drowning sensation as being in a spinning dryer — observing many tunnels underwater, with lights at the receiving end, shining in the distance but with no escape.
In an interview, she says, “No one recognized the sound. It felt like the Earth was coming apart. I was facing the sea and saw a huge black wall. I didn’t think it was the sea. I thought it was a black wall coming to get us.”
About 15 meters away she could see her eldest son Lucas. She swam across the current, grabbed Lucas and held onto a tree trunk until they found themselves in a swamp.
She screamed for her husband and two younger sons but heard no response.
Not for one second did she believe that her husband and two other boys were alive.
She was wrong…
Her husband pummeled in the wave and lost sight of his sons. After holding onto a tree for thirty minutes, he heard “Papa! Mama! Lucas! Simon”.
Quique was reunited with his son, who was perched on a branch.
They then heard little Simon!
Convinced that his wife and Lucas were dead, Quique remained hopeful and made the decision of leaving his two sons with a stranger. Whilst teaming up with another grieving husband, the pair searched through hospitals full of wounded and dying people.
He found his injured wife, who miraculously survived, alongside Lucas.
The two sons also made their way to the hospital and the family were reunited!
The movie The Impossible (highly recommend watching), was inspired by this real-life story.
What’s the take-away message? Behind every smile is a story of hardship. We have no idea what someone has been through, so be considerate.
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