Matthijs Slot's Tsunami story

By Matthijs Slot, I wrote this in May 2006.

My bad time was on 2004 12 26, it was the day of the tsunami. We were on Chicken Island. My dad and I were on the beach and my bro, sis and mum were on the boat when a big wave came and lifted my mum’s boat up. The wave came and destroyed the boat and then it hit me and my dad. Before the wave, my dad and I were putting fishes that we found on the beach and we were putting them back to the sea. My dad was wondering why the fishes were there. On the 4th fish we put back, my dad and I saw this big wave, my dad said “run” but I did not run. My dad just read the book about tsunami, and he knew that something was wrong. I looked at the wave thinking it was wave like you see in Australia. Then it took my mum’s boat and maybe more boats and crashed and hit me and my dad. All I was doing was trying to get air. Whenever I looked out to the sea, I saw my dad rescuing these children. I was daydreaming, wondering what was happening. The next wave I saw my brother terribly injured, I helped him to safety. I pulled him by his arm, and another lady picked him up. Than another wave hit and I was taken back to the sea. Bastiaan, my brother was high enough. After that wave I managed to get to safety. While I was up to safety, I saw my mum and dad, looking for Vivian (my sister). I gave my mum and dad a big hug and my brother hugged my mum. Then they went back to find my sister. My sister was only 3 years old. A boat came two to three hours later. My Mum and Dad and brother and I went on a boat that brought us to another boat. But that boat did not go to the hospital. It did not move at all, it did not want to go because it was not getting paid for it. So then we had to wait in the sun for 4 hours, got a little bit of water like 50ml, because there were so many people that were there. Finally one hospital boat came and brought my mum, brother and me and some other people to the shore. The boat ride was 5 min. When we got to shore, a very unofficial car brought us to the hospital. My mum was brought to an operation room, where they had to take water out of my mum. My dad and my brother where separated so for 6 hours. I hated those hours. I was in the hospital waiting for my mum and dad. I was with my brother. My dad came when I was crying my eyes out because I did not see my sister anywhere. My dad brought my brother and me to the hotel Alis (we were staying at another hotel, my dad called them but they did not come to pick us up, and my dad said that we where in the tsunami, but they said “if you want to go to Alis, you must first pay” and then the Alis people got our language and brought it to Alis).

A near death experience
(By: Caroline Cammerfelt 1/2 2006)

We have just finished our dinner at the restaurant when we start talking to the waiter about a trip to an island the next morning. He had a boat and he was really happy when we asked him if he would like to drive us out at nine a clock next day.In this true story I will tell you about when I was In Thailand 26 December 2004.

Well I’m ready to go now I said when I had packed my things that I would have with me to the beach today. We were all ready but the time wasn’t nine a clock yet. We decided to go down to the restaurant and see if the waiter was ready to drive us out to Chicken Island.He was ready and he drove us out to a very nice island (Chicken Island). He said that he would pick us up at four thirty right here were he had dropt us of. We were the only family at the beach except for two other people how were sitting in the shadow. Me, my dad and my brother went snorkeling when my mom was reading her book. When we came up from the water, there were a lot of more people at the beach and I saw some more boats were coming in. I was looking for some nice shell when I heard that a lot of people were screaming and I looked towards the boats. I saw the water was gone and all of the boats were lying on just sand. Then I saw how swiftly flowing the water was and how helpless the people in the water were when they follow the swiftly flowing water out.

My mom and I looked over the beach and then we saw on the other side a boat how it was, stuck in the reef and then I heard something.I turned around when I heard some people scream and I then I saw how the horizon just raised up. It was the biggest wave I ever seen in my whole life.People got panicked and screamed and some asked what are we going to do the wave is coming against us. Then I heard a Swedish man screamed that we must run up to the hill if we’re going to survive. He was a tour leader (He was there whit his group on 10 people). Mom and dad took our things and we started running. My brother and my mom ran in front of me and I waited for my dad to start running but he just walked. Then I stood in the middle of the beach and didn’t know what to do, run up to mom and my brother or wait for dad. I screamed to dad to hurry up a million times when I started running. He was going fast after me but he stopped when he hade come up a little bit. I were now next until my mom and I screamed to my dad to come up. He first did when my mom begin to scream too. I can tell you that it didn’t took long before the wave came and if my dad haven’t came up to us he probably hadn’t survive. We ran up to the top and my dad was trying to calm me down when my mom was trying to get my little brother to say something. He was so shocked and just sitting on a stone and looked in front of him. It was many people that were screaming and crying we all was scared because we didn’t know what happened. It all happened so fast from that when the water just disappeared until the wave came it only had gone about ten minutes. It was one family we started taking to they had a girl named Lina how was in my age. We both were very scared and didn’t talk so much. My mom and her mom desire that we should eat dinner together when we came home to Sweden.My dad rang home to my grand parents when the time was five thirty Swedish time. - Hello, it’s me we’re fine we all are fine. Can you looked at BBC or something we must know what had happened, it just came a big wave and we are sitting on a hill. We are many people here sitting on the hill. But we are fine we are all fine, send me a message when you find out what’s going on. Someone was slowly going down to see what’s happened and I don’t remember so much but I know I began feeling really scared when people were screaming and when all moved longer up. It was a another wave coming, I cling to a tree. Lina and her mother Karin were hiding behind two stones. We didn’t know if the small little hill that we were sitting on was going to keep.They say that the second wave was bigger that the first one, but I don’t remember I just know that I was clinging to my little small tree and wanted it all to be over.My dad got a message from my grandfather: It has been an earthquake in Indonesian. I don’t really know how long we were sitting on that hill but I can tell for sure that it was at least four hours. The Swedish guide that I mention had made some phone call and there was a big boat just outside us and there was a speedboat that was going to transport us to it. But they made clear for us that it could only take 8 people at the time and we must hurry because there was another wave expected. I was first down from the hill; the only thing I had in mind was to get on that boat. Me my family, Lina, Olle and Karin were first transported to the big boat. When we got to the boat we put lifejackets on and take some water to drink. When everyone from the hill hade got on the big boat we got instruct to go inside the boat because they expected that a new wave would come. They first said that it would come at one o’clock and then three o’clock. I thought that they could just drive us in to Ao Nang (Where our hotel was).I didn’t want to be at that boat anymore, I didn’t want to be in Thailand anymore I just wanted to get home to Sweden. We were on that boat for four or five hours and we were all was tired and hungry we have some water we al shared and some cookies that the children on the boat get. My brother was sleeping for at least forty-five minutes and Lina and I was playing card just to get something other on mind. We was told that it would came a police boat and pick us up but only ten at the time and they would drive us so long as it could and then we would be transport by a little boat the last way. All I had in my mind was that we and Lina, Olle and Karin would go in the same boat in to the beach. But we didn’t they was transport before us but Karin made the driver clear that he would go right back and pick us up now. We never saw them again and we didn’t have a phone number so we couldn’t call them. Tree girls and their mothers were on the same boat as we, they only had bikini and passport and their money left. All there things were left at Phi Phi island where they lived, but they had heard that it wasn’t anything left there, al was gone. So we decided to help them to get somewhere to sleep and we ask at our hotel if it might be a room left. They could stay at the hotel as long as they wanted, and the hotelkeeper was so happy to se us and that we were all okay he said that they had been worried about us. We try to get something to eat but I couldn’t I wasn’t hungry and after that we get to the hotel and try to sleep. The next day we first went to eat breakfast but I couldn’t eat now either, all I saw was boat coming in with people who was hurt. We went to the restaurant were the boat driver worked, we wanted to know if he was still alive and give him some money that we owned him. We met him and he had only hurt his foot. He told us that he had seen the wave and he had put on a lifejacket on and jumped in the water. He said that he had a cousin in Sweden who was working on Mc Donald’s and when he maybe sometime would come top Sweden he would contact us. We went to the hotel and packed our things, we were going to the airport we had a plain to catch. The whole way home was terrible our plane from Bangkok to Munich was half full there were so many people who was hurt. But I was lucky I fell asleep so I didn’t have to see those people with opened wound I think it was horrible. When we at last landed In Munich the air stewardess told everyone who have been in Thailand to take a buss into a special hall were they checked everyone and gave clothes to them who haven’t got any. They took well care of us all, they even checked if it might be a plane that left earlier so we didn’t have to wait six hours. But when they fend out that the next plane to Sweden was that we already have seats on, they asked if we would like to go to the VIP lounge. I girl showed us were the room was and told the personal there that we should pick a plane in six hours and that she would follow us then. I started feel bad and got a real headache, my parents say that it probably was because I haven’t eat in nearly forty-eight hours. We got some food and just waited to the plane would come.When we came home to Sweden my grandfather was picking us up at the airport when my grandmothers were making us dinner at home. I was so happy to be home and I was so happy to see everybody. We eat meatballs and mashed potatoes and when we have eaten I just fall asleep in the couch. After a couple of weeks we tried to contact Lina, Olle and Karin to ask if they wanted to eat dinner with us now when we were home. The next Saturday they came home to us to eat dinner and when we were sitting and eating Karin just said: I searched for you on internet to fine a way to drive here, then I saw that we have the same name: Karin Elisabeth and guess what, when I was little my dad always called me Kajsa. We didn’t say anything at first but then my mom asked when she was born,In 1964 Karin answered.They were born in the same year and they hade the same names I thought that was unbelievable and they had meet on the smallest island under the biggest natural catastrophe in Asian. But that was not all. My mom asks Karin her date of birth. It was a long silence then she said: thirtieth of July I screamed it couldn’t be true it just couldn’t, they were born at the same day!Lina and I just stared at each other we couldn’t believe it, it couldn’t be true. We have spend a lot of time with Lina, Olle and Karin, I think that we have helped each other when it have been a hard time. It has been a really long way back and it has been hard. I mean at first I was so happy to be home that I didn’t realise what we have been through. But after a month or something when I started thinking I felt so bad and not only because what we had been through even because everyone seemed to have forgotten about it. I have no one to talk with except Lina and no one seemed to care. But I survived the hardest time and I think we have been through a lot of things and that we have a long way in front of us. The next step is a group that Lina and I would go and talk with students who were in Thailand and came home with everyone alive.

By: Caroline Cammerfelt 1/2 2006