WEBVTT - 20 Years On: Surviving the Boxing Day Tsunami 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:03.360 We'd like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land 0:00:03.480 --> 0:00:06.840 on which this podcast was produced, the Gaigle people of 0:00:06.880 --> 0:00:09.879 the orination. We pay our respects to Elder's past. 0:00:09.920 --> 0:00:14.800 In present, It's Boxing Day two thousand and four and 0:00:14.840 --> 0:00:19.120 Rebecca Giles is relaxing in her beachside bungalow on Thailand's 0:00:19.160 --> 0:00:25.040 Pp Island. After a busy year of work, she's escaped 0:00:25.079 --> 0:00:26.880 to the picture perfect spot for. 0:00:26.880 --> 0:00:28.160 A last minute holiday. 0:00:29.320 --> 0:00:32.320 She's relaxing on her bed reading a magazine when she 0:00:32.360 --> 0:00:33.360 begins to hear. 0:00:33.280 --> 0:00:34.400 A rumbling sound. 0:00:35.840 --> 0:00:41.120 Then suddenly her room explodes and disintegrates around her. Rebecca 0:00:41.280 --> 0:00:44.400 is swept away in a fizzing round wave full of debris. 0:00:45.520 --> 0:00:48.760 Just as she's thinking this is the end and pictures 0:00:48.800 --> 0:00:51.760 of her family members fill her mind, the surge of 0:00:51.840 --> 0:00:55.320 water throws her onto the roof of a nearby hotel. 0:00:56.480 --> 0:00:59.720 As the water begins to subside, and Rebeka tries to 0:00:59.720 --> 0:01:03.279 get her her bearings, her surroundings looked nothing like the 0:01:03.320 --> 0:01:07.720 idyllic island she was relaxing on just moments ago. She 0:01:07.800 --> 0:01:10.760 doesn't realize it now, but she's just lived through the 0:01:10.880 --> 0:01:12.640 deadliest tsunami. 0:01:12.240 --> 0:01:18.280 In modern history. I'm Att Middleton and this is head 0:01:18.319 --> 0:01:20.120 Game Today. 0:01:20.280 --> 0:01:24.000 Rebecca Giles on surviving one of the biggest natural disasters 0:01:24.160 --> 0:01:29.760 of our time. Rebecca Giles, it's an absolute pleasure to 0:01:29.800 --> 0:01:33.080 have you here on my podcast head Game. Talk to 0:01:33.120 --> 0:01:35.080 me about when you decided, like, do you know what 0:01:35.120 --> 0:01:36.320 I just need to get away? 0:01:36.319 --> 0:01:38.680 I need to break? Was a conversation that you had 0:01:38.720 --> 0:01:39.360 with your boyfriend. 0:01:39.480 --> 0:01:41.840 Yeah, very last minute. I just had the you know, 0:01:41.959 --> 0:01:45.440 I mean, just had the hugest year and really just 0:01:45.480 --> 0:01:48.480 needed to sit on a beach and just unwind before 0:01:48.600 --> 0:01:52.000 I was going into a trial. So before I put 0:01:52.040 --> 0:01:54.040 the I just need to just put the tools down 0:01:54.080 --> 0:01:56.040 for a moment before I picked them up again for 0:01:56.080 --> 0:01:57.880 a big year again. And we just thought we'd just 0:01:58.000 --> 0:02:01.080 nip over to Thailand, don't have a great break, and 0:02:01.120 --> 0:02:02.160 come back with a good tan. 0:02:03.880 --> 0:02:07.600 So but you you recognized at that time that it 0:02:07.640 --> 0:02:09.919 was well needed, right, You've got a big year ahead 0:02:09.919 --> 0:02:12.400 of you. So it took me through the trip. You 0:02:12.680 --> 0:02:15.520 you you've got your passports. Are you excited at the 0:02:15.720 --> 0:02:17.240 at the airport? Is it just yeah? 0:02:17.320 --> 0:02:20.120 Look, the funny thing is that yeah, oh, very well. 0:02:20.200 --> 0:02:23.360 My partner and I were discussing where we should go, 0:02:23.400 --> 0:02:25.520 and we're just I mean, you know what it's like 0:02:25.520 --> 0:02:27.040 when you pick a holiday, just look at the map. 0:02:27.080 --> 0:02:29.600 And he'd actually never been to Pp Island. I'd been 0:02:29.639 --> 0:02:31.840 there many years ago, and I recommended. I said, look 0:02:31.880 --> 0:02:35.320 this is go to Thailand. It's idyllic, it's beautiful. Trust 0:02:35.320 --> 0:02:38.560 me on this. So we just made, honestly a last 0:02:38.560 --> 0:02:40.919 minute plan and we were there sort of in a 0:02:41.000 --> 0:02:41.880 couple of days. 0:02:42.480 --> 0:02:45.040 So you get to Pp Island, are you really relaxing 0:02:45.080 --> 0:02:46.919 into it? You fun? 0:02:47.720 --> 0:02:49.680 It was fun, Like you know, it's very rare for 0:02:49.720 --> 0:02:52.000 me to be away from my family for Christmas as well. 0:02:53.000 --> 0:02:56.400 But you know that the particular resort we were staying 0:02:56.400 --> 0:03:00.680 at had all these sort of compulsory gala dinners and whatever, 0:03:00.720 --> 0:03:02.760 and there were lots of entirely there's a lot of 0:03:02.800 --> 0:03:05.080 drag queens that they had a drag show and it 0:03:05.120 --> 0:03:07.800 was all very festive, and you know, it was nice. 0:03:07.880 --> 0:03:10.520 It was like a really you know, evident sort of 0:03:11.080 --> 0:03:13.880 joy in the air because it was Christmas and everyone 0:03:13.960 --> 0:03:17.919 was happy and laughing and there was a great dinner 0:03:17.960 --> 0:03:22.519 the night before and yeah, it was It's a beautiful island. 0:03:23.080 --> 0:03:24.799 So everything felt right. 0:03:24.919 --> 0:03:29.400 Nothing that felt you know, some people say, before an 0:03:29.400 --> 0:03:31.920 instant happens, you know there's something you know there was. 0:03:32.200 --> 0:03:34.080 I did not have a sixth sense. And if that's what, 0:03:34.240 --> 0:03:36.240 if that's what you're implying, No, I don't think I'm 0:03:36.280 --> 0:03:39.040 that intuitive. I just maybe if all the signs were there, 0:03:39.080 --> 0:03:40.080 but I didn't notice any. 0:03:40.960 --> 0:03:42.080 Take me back if you can. 0:03:43.440 --> 0:03:47.560 You waking up and it was yeah, because I think 0:03:48.560 --> 0:03:52.200 people don't realize how your life can be flipped upside 0:03:52.200 --> 0:03:53.720 down in an instant. 0:03:54.480 --> 0:03:56.720 I mean, I often do think about that day because 0:03:58.160 --> 0:04:00.480 I often go back to it because I'm scared of 0:04:00.960 --> 0:04:07.200 not remembering it and not remembering what happened. It's you know, 0:04:07.280 --> 0:04:09.960 we woke up and we had a really big buffet breakfast, 0:04:11.640 --> 0:04:14.760 and I remember just feeling like I had really overdone it, 0:04:15.280 --> 0:04:16.640 and I remember I had to go and lie down 0:04:16.640 --> 0:04:18.760 because I had a bit of a saw tummy. So 0:04:19.520 --> 0:04:22.360 I went back to our room, and you know, I 0:04:22.360 --> 0:04:25.800 remember seeing a couple of the drag queens not in 0:04:25.880 --> 0:04:28.200 drag with a bit of smear makeup, and we all 0:04:28.240 --> 0:04:30.360 had a little laugh and some people we saw at 0:04:30.360 --> 0:04:32.159 breakfast from the night before. You know what it's like 0:04:32.200 --> 0:04:34.640 when you're in a resort and I went back to 0:04:34.680 --> 0:04:38.719 my room and was reading a magazine and my partner 0:04:38.760 --> 0:04:41.800 had gone to return a DVD we'd watched the night before. 0:04:42.640 --> 0:04:44.520 I was supposed to clean up the room and I 0:04:44.600 --> 0:04:47.400 was I didn't do that, and I remember him just 0:04:47.440 --> 0:04:49.320 coming in the door and thinking, you know, the panic 0:04:49.320 --> 0:04:51.200 when you're supposed to have done something you haven't done it. 0:04:52.040 --> 0:04:58.760 And then at around that time, I heard quite a commotion, which, 0:04:58.880 --> 0:05:00.880 you know, like a you know, and I idyllic island 0:05:00.960 --> 0:05:03.520 setting is a bit of a weird noise. You know, 0:05:03.560 --> 0:05:05.760 there's no cars on this island or anything like that, 0:05:05.760 --> 0:05:09.120 so you don't ever have the noise of traffic. And 0:05:09.800 --> 0:05:13.920 it was commotion, but not scary commotion, just commotion, people 0:05:14.520 --> 0:05:18.560 making noise, no screaming or anything. And I remember just 0:05:18.800 --> 0:05:19.520 observing it. 0:05:19.680 --> 0:05:21.360 Just something out of the norm, right, Yeah, there. 0:05:21.240 --> 0:05:23.880 Was something out of the option. Something I just noticed 0:05:23.920 --> 0:05:26.880 the noise and I didn't I wasn't alarmed or panicked 0:05:26.920 --> 0:05:32.039 at all. And I can't even remember whether my partner 0:05:32.240 --> 0:05:35.800 said anything to me, but I just observed it. And 0:05:35.839 --> 0:05:40.200 then it was like, you know, I can see the 0:05:40.279 --> 0:05:42.680 movies about tsunamis and things like that, and you see 0:05:42.839 --> 0:05:45.720 water creep you know, water filling up and things like that. 0:05:45.720 --> 0:05:48.520 That was not my experience at all. I was inside 0:05:48.520 --> 0:05:53.920 a structure and it was a weatherboard bungalow, and for me, 0:05:54.200 --> 0:05:57.520 it was like a bomb went off because it was 0:05:57.680 --> 0:06:06.880 so so sudden, so violent, and everything disintegrated on impact. 0:06:07.560 --> 0:06:10.240 But it wasn't like water either, So it wasn't like 0:06:10.279 --> 0:06:13.560 I was, you know, surfing away or anything like that, 0:06:13.720 --> 0:06:17.000 or even felt the sensation of water. It felt like 0:06:18.200 --> 0:06:22.800 a bomb had exploded. And then I was in something 0:06:23.000 --> 0:06:26.520 like it didn't feel I didn't feel the soothing, you know, 0:06:26.680 --> 0:06:29.560 feeling of water at all. It was like I was 0:06:29.640 --> 0:06:32.640 being crushed. I often describe it like being in an 0:06:32.720 --> 0:06:35.760 industrial blender, like if I'd fallen into some sort of 0:06:35.839 --> 0:06:39.839 blender and I was just being pulverized really, because it 0:06:39.920 --> 0:06:42.880 was quite I mean, I didn't feel any pain at 0:06:42.880 --> 0:06:49.479 all during this, but it was very, very confusing. It 0:06:49.560 --> 0:06:53.560 was a sensation I'd never felt before. I didn't understand. 0:06:53.440 --> 0:06:55.760 Last fought before it happened. Do you remember just looking 0:06:55.760 --> 0:06:56.960 around in it just I Do. 0:06:56.880 --> 0:06:59.080 You remember seeing the wall to the right of me 0:06:59.160 --> 0:07:02.040 collapsing and then the air conditioning coming down on me? 0:07:02.120 --> 0:07:05.440 But that was in a microsecond, like not slow motion 0:07:05.800 --> 0:07:08.680 or you know, and no life flashing before my eyes, 0:07:08.760 --> 0:07:11.320 like it was micro second too quick. 0:07:11.400 --> 0:07:15.040 Right, So you're there, Well, I'm enjoying life, no warning 0:07:15.080 --> 0:07:19.240 signs and commotion going on. You literally go from one 0:07:19.320 --> 0:07:24.480 gaze to the next, and the whole place is disintegrating 0:07:24.520 --> 0:07:25.840 around you and you're being crushed. 0:07:25.880 --> 0:07:28.040 I mean, when you think about the room, the small 0:07:28.120 --> 0:07:32.480 room we're in right now, if that was to disintegrate 0:07:32.520 --> 0:07:35.600 in a second, you know, I mean, I know how 0:07:35.640 --> 0:07:37.400 fortunate I was not to be hit on the head. 0:07:37.880 --> 0:07:40.320 And I think that that is how many people died 0:07:40.360 --> 0:07:44.040 that day. They lost consciousness, they were knocked out, and 0:07:44.080 --> 0:07:50.320 they drowned, whereas I was awake and with it the 0:07:50.360 --> 0:07:52.720 whole time and was able to I mean, I didn't 0:07:52.720 --> 0:07:54.840 actually do anything to save myself, but at least I 0:07:54.880 --> 0:07:59.200 closed my mouth and went with whatever was happening to me. 0:07:59.560 --> 0:08:02.560 And you know, I think that a lot of people 0:08:02.640 --> 0:08:06.640 died in more robust structures because they didn't collapse. But 0:08:06.680 --> 0:08:10.400 I was very lucky that the strength of the water 0:08:10.640 --> 0:08:13.920 destroyed the building and it didn't trap me within the building. 0:08:14.520 --> 0:08:17.559 But I was able to move with everything. I moved 0:08:17.560 --> 0:08:21.640 with the wave, so at the time, I just you know, 0:08:21.840 --> 0:08:24.680 the narrative, the internal narrative is really interesting, right, Like 0:08:25.080 --> 0:08:27.720 obviously the first reaction is what the fuck is is? 0:08:28.120 --> 0:08:31.800 You know, immediately it's shocked, like what what? What? 0:08:31.800 --> 0:08:32.040 What? 0:08:32.160 --> 0:08:36.679 And then and then it turns to naturally, okay, really 0:08:36.679 --> 0:08:39.720 what is this and trying to understand from a sensory 0:08:39.800 --> 0:08:42.480 perspective what the hell it was. I mean, you know, 0:08:42.760 --> 0:08:46.440 tsunami is something that is in a vernacula now very 0:08:46.520 --> 0:08:50.400 much so, but back then it wasn't at all. I'd 0:08:50.440 --> 0:08:53.600 remember it from like, you know, Asian cartoons and like, 0:08:54.040 --> 0:08:56.240 you know, I knew what the word meant, but maybe 0:08:56.320 --> 0:08:59.960 title wave was probably something, but I never even thought 0:09:00.160 --> 0:09:02.880 it was water related at all. So I was trying 0:09:02.880 --> 0:09:05.400 to understand. I thought maybe a truck had sort of 0:09:05.600 --> 0:09:08.040 crushed album, and there's no trucks on the island. I 0:09:08.080 --> 0:09:10.320 just couldn't. I was going through all the things. 0:09:10.120 --> 0:09:12.760 It could be, trying to figure out what was. 0:09:13.160 --> 0:09:15.679 And I was just sort of eliminating things in my head, 0:09:15.840 --> 0:09:19.160 just really logically rationally trying to work out what had 0:09:19.160 --> 0:09:22.160 happened to me. But the point is I was being 0:09:22.240 --> 0:09:26.320 moved at such a force and such a speed that 0:09:26.640 --> 0:09:29.280 I had no control over any of any part of 0:09:29.280 --> 0:09:32.040 my body. It was so fun like there was no 0:09:32.240 --> 0:09:33.600 chance I could even move my right arm. 0:09:34.320 --> 0:09:36.840 Just you were just stuck. I was just going. 0:09:37.280 --> 0:09:40.480 I was head over feet over, you know, like being 0:09:40.600 --> 0:09:43.480 spun through through with a lot of debris, like a 0:09:43.520 --> 0:09:45.920 wall of debris. Basically, when did. 0:09:45.800 --> 0:09:49.359 You realize that you were in water? When was that realization? 0:09:49.480 --> 0:09:51.640 Not until I was out of the water. Actually wow, 0:09:52.679 --> 0:09:55.200 you know, but I did know that. I actually thought 0:09:55.200 --> 0:09:57.559 maybe it was mud. I thought maybe there'd been a landslide, 0:09:57.640 --> 0:10:01.160 is what I concluded ultimately in my you know, rational 0:10:01.200 --> 0:10:06.600 elimination of possible causes. But it didn't feel like water 0:10:06.679 --> 0:10:09.119 at all. You know, I've always had a great relationship 0:10:09.200 --> 0:10:11.079 with the water and felt that I could be you know, 0:10:11.160 --> 0:10:15.480 but I it didn't feel that way. And in fact, 0:10:15.760 --> 0:10:18.400 you know, when I was ultimately propelled out of the 0:10:18.440 --> 0:10:24.280 water by a force that I don't really understand, it 0:10:24.400 --> 0:10:30.040 wasn't you know, blue beautiful you know, tie beach water. 0:10:30.240 --> 0:10:35.679 It was thick, dark, brown, stinky water that was a 0:10:35.760 --> 0:10:45.440 soup of like debris, luggage, people, trees, window frames. You know. 0:10:45.559 --> 0:10:49.520 It reminded me of the local tip actually wow. And 0:10:49.559 --> 0:10:52.440 the smell was just you know, it was an overwhelming, 0:10:53.320 --> 0:10:58.520 very noticeable smell immediately. Yeah, So it didn't feel like 0:10:58.720 --> 0:11:00.800 you know, I've seen a lot of them movies, and 0:11:01.040 --> 0:11:03.199 it just just what it looked like and how it's 0:11:03.200 --> 0:11:06.520 been recreated wasn't wasn't really my experience. It was just 0:11:06.720 --> 0:11:09.600 it was a slurry really. 0:11:09.760 --> 0:11:12.120 And when you were trying to figure this out psychologically 0:11:12.120 --> 0:11:15.160 in your head, what is going on? What were the 0:11:15.160 --> 0:11:17.360 answers that you were getting? Can you remember some of 0:11:17.400 --> 0:11:18.120 your thoughts? Can? Yah? 0:11:18.160 --> 0:11:19.040 Of course? Of course. 0:11:19.160 --> 0:11:21.600 I mean, like I say, it was immediately shock, what 0:11:21.760 --> 0:11:23.920 is this? And then a more rational I turned to 0:11:23.920 --> 0:11:26.800 a more rational view of what are the potential causes? 0:11:26.840 --> 0:11:28.880 And then I really couldn't work it out. And I 0:11:28.880 --> 0:11:32.400 thought maybe a landslide or maybe a truck or something 0:11:32.440 --> 0:11:35.319 like that. And I just I also thought, because the 0:11:35.360 --> 0:11:37.400 bungalow I was in and I was on a foot 0:11:37.480 --> 0:11:40.640 on bed was very low to the ground, I had 0:11:40.640 --> 0:11:42.280 it in my head that maybe I was just really 0:11:42.280 --> 0:11:43.800 low of the ground and someone was going to just 0:11:44.480 --> 0:11:46.760 pull me out of whatever it was or just grab me. 0:11:47.480 --> 0:11:51.240 I had obviously no understanding that it was a global 0:11:51.640 --> 0:11:55.760 event and that you know, I was one of thousands 0:11:55.800 --> 0:11:59.280 affected on an island, and that one of many in 0:11:59.360 --> 0:12:02.280 the country and the region. I had no idea of 0:12:02.400 --> 0:12:04.440 how small I was in this incident. 0:12:06.559 --> 0:12:07.640 Do you think you're going to die? 0:12:07.880 --> 0:12:09.960 You know when it happened, Well, not at that point, 0:12:10.040 --> 0:12:11.640 not at that point. I mean at that point I 0:12:11.720 --> 0:12:14.800 was still, you know, going through the process of elimination. 0:12:15.040 --> 0:12:18.640 And then something in me moved on from that thought 0:12:18.720 --> 0:12:21.080 because I was like, Okay, that's very interesting because I 0:12:21.080 --> 0:12:25.080 can't actually do anything about whatever it is, and oh gee, 0:12:25.160 --> 0:12:28.000 my lungs are starting to hurt, and I might be 0:12:28.040 --> 0:12:30.880 in a bit of strife here. And then suddenly the 0:12:30.920 --> 0:12:36.680 realization of holy shit, this is actually a really bad, 0:12:37.040 --> 0:12:40.040 dangerous situation for me, and I could be looking at 0:12:40.080 --> 0:12:42.199 something quite scary. 0:12:44.160 --> 0:12:46.200 And then if you realize your lungs was obviously the 0:12:46.200 --> 0:12:47.800 pressure being crushed, when did you think? 0:12:48.520 --> 0:12:51.680 I remember just I remember just feeling feeling, feeling it 0:12:51.720 --> 0:12:54.640 in my chest, and then thinking I don't really have 0:12:54.679 --> 0:12:56.000 a lot of options here. I don't even know what 0:12:56.040 --> 0:12:59.720 this is. I'm in trouble. And then you know, the panic. 0:13:00.080 --> 0:13:02.959 It was really interesting, the wave of emotions and then 0:13:03.120 --> 0:13:07.800 the panic turned to sort of extreme sort of anger 0:13:07.840 --> 0:13:11.040 and sorrow, like it was sort of like no, no, no, no, no, 0:13:11.040 --> 0:13:17.240 no no, I'm only twenty seven. This can't be like no, 0:13:17.400 --> 0:13:20.320 this is not the plan, right, And I just remember 0:13:20.480 --> 0:13:23.240 then immediately thinking it's so funny, like what you value, 0:13:23.280 --> 0:13:26.760 and remember thinking about my family and my niece who 0:13:26.800 --> 0:13:29.120 was only two at the time, and I didn't have 0:13:29.200 --> 0:13:32.480 kids at that time. I have many now, but you know, 0:13:32.800 --> 0:13:35.800 just feeling just extreme sorrow that I wouldn't see her again. 0:13:35.920 --> 0:13:38.760 And then I just wow, so this was going for 0:13:39.280 --> 0:13:42.880 and then oh yeah, and then suddenly I'm thinking, oh, 0:13:42.920 --> 0:13:45.240 that's right. I'm really scared of dying. I wonder if 0:13:45.240 --> 0:13:48.800 this is going to hurt. Just all these sort of crazy, 0:13:48.880 --> 0:13:51.680 crazy thoughts about you know, is it going to hurt? 0:13:53.400 --> 0:13:53.600 Oh? 0:13:53.679 --> 0:13:56.319 Am I going to go to hell? Probably? You know, 0:13:56.400 --> 0:13:59.120 all of these sort of things about I remember, you're 0:13:59.120 --> 0:14:01.520 supposed to do before you die, I should really be 0:14:01.679 --> 0:14:04.079 like and I was always sort of thoughts. And then 0:14:05.280 --> 0:14:08.520 I remember sort of almost wincing and bracing myself to 0:14:08.600 --> 0:14:11.560 prepare for that moment of death. And I didn't even 0:14:11.640 --> 0:14:14.240 know how I would die, because of course I didn't 0:14:14.240 --> 0:14:16.640 realize I was in water. But I just knew that 0:14:16.679 --> 0:14:18.960 I was in trouble, and it was almost at the 0:14:19.000 --> 0:14:22.600 moment where I kind of accepted my fate that I 0:14:22.720 --> 0:14:28.160 was propelled out of the water and I was. I remember, 0:14:28.200 --> 0:14:31.000 it's almost like you know when you're in a swimming 0:14:31.000 --> 0:14:33.400 pool and your dad throws you from one end to 0:14:33.440 --> 0:14:37.040 the other. That was the sort of force that I 0:14:37.160 --> 0:14:39.640 was because I remember being out of the water and 0:14:39.680 --> 0:14:43.680 I landed on a roof which was a hotel. 0:14:44.080 --> 0:14:46.080 So that's how high this is. And again you're thinking 0:14:46.120 --> 0:14:47.040 that you're on the ground. 0:14:47.160 --> 0:14:49.360 Yeah, someone was just going to pluck and then all of. 0:14:49.360 --> 0:14:54.440 A sudden, you're that high that you get thrown onto 0:14:54.840 --> 0:14:56.880 a rooftop, hotel rooftop. 0:14:57.040 --> 0:14:59.840 Yeah, yeah, I mean, And that's the thing, you know, 0:15:00.040 --> 0:15:04.360 you Like I said, I wasn't in pain, but from 0:15:04.360 --> 0:15:07.040 the moment it hit me to that point, you know, 0:15:07.040 --> 0:15:10.440 I had broken many bones. Didn't feel it at all. 0:15:11.360 --> 0:15:13.720 You know, I had gone from being in a structure 0:15:13.760 --> 0:15:18.120 to outsider structure. I had traveled significant distance as well, 0:15:18.280 --> 0:15:20.240 and I just had no concept of that at all 0:15:20.280 --> 0:15:21.840 because it was just a sheer force. 0:15:22.520 --> 0:15:24.240 You know, you didn't have time to look at your 0:15:24.240 --> 0:15:25.000 surroundings and. 0:15:24.920 --> 0:15:27.360 Go You had no bearings at all, no bearings at all, 0:15:27.360 --> 0:15:29.640 where I was, where I was going, what it was 0:15:30.040 --> 0:15:34.680 at all. And you know, one of the big real 0:15:35.080 --> 0:15:36.920 sort of life lessons that I learned from the whole 0:15:36.960 --> 0:15:40.280 experience is, you know how we as humans and people 0:15:40.280 --> 0:15:45.680 were just s like we had these tiny We're so fragile, 0:15:46.480 --> 0:15:49.000 you know, we're these little specs. You know, we had 0:15:49.040 --> 0:15:52.320 no match for sort of mother nature and you know, 0:15:52.400 --> 0:15:57.480 the anger of the ocean, and we're just really you know, 0:15:57.520 --> 0:16:02.760 we're very vulnerable. And you know, I was extremely lucky 0:16:02.880 --> 0:16:05.360 not to have passed out. 0:16:15.120 --> 0:16:19.040 So you get thrown up out of the water onto 0:16:19.040 --> 0:16:25.480 a rooftop. Is that when you realize actually, at. 0:16:25.360 --> 0:16:28.560 That time, I am my adrenaline had kicked in big 0:16:28.560 --> 0:16:32.200 time and I and I wasn't thinking rationally and I 0:16:32.240 --> 0:16:35.880 wasn't I wasn't in that same head, you know, mindset 0:16:35.880 --> 0:16:39.640 at all. It was a very serene It was like, 0:16:39.840 --> 0:16:43.200 you know, it was like having you know, taking mushrooms 0:16:43.840 --> 0:16:45.800 and then you're suddenly on this like where the hell, 0:16:46.000 --> 0:16:47.840 like what the what the heck is going on? 0:16:48.160 --> 0:16:50.280 You wanted to be on a rooftop, but not like this. 0:16:50.520 --> 0:16:53.880 Yeah, no, I do like rooftop bars, but not this one. 0:16:54.320 --> 0:16:59.440 It was just very confusing and just smell a fizzing noise. 0:16:59.480 --> 0:17:04.080 It was a really strong fizzy noise, and all of 0:17:04.080 --> 0:17:05.879 those sorts of things. The heat of the sun. It 0:17:05.920 --> 0:17:11.440 was an incredibly hot day, and just being extremely confused, 0:17:12.720 --> 0:17:16.800 not really understanding. You know, if it was the tsunami 0:17:16.800 --> 0:17:19.040 in my head, maybe the water would be clear. I mean, 0:17:19.040 --> 0:17:22.080 this was whack water. It was like it was like 0:17:22.119 --> 0:17:27.440 the island had destroyed, was destroyed and had caved in 0:17:27.600 --> 0:17:31.159 and spontaneously combusted because all the structures, apart from the 0:17:31.160 --> 0:17:34.080 one I was on the top of, were no longer there. 0:17:35.280 --> 0:17:39.560 So you're there on the rooftop all this. You know, 0:17:39.760 --> 0:17:43.920 this sea of anger is going past you. When does 0:17:43.960 --> 0:17:46.440 it subside? When do you just do you just like think, 0:17:46.480 --> 0:17:50.360 why I've stopped moving. I'm just going to stay here 0:17:50.440 --> 0:17:52.359 until happens. 0:17:53.480 --> 0:17:55.800 I remember there was a man near me, and I 0:17:56.359 --> 0:17:59.800 remember being conscious of him. He had a lot of 0:18:00.000 --> 0:18:04.399 blood on him. And then there was another surge, like 0:18:04.480 --> 0:18:08.040 a very very strong surge that felt it must have 0:18:08.119 --> 0:18:13.000 been a second way, and then that came over the 0:18:13.080 --> 0:18:15.440 roof and I couldn't move at that point. By that time, 0:18:15.480 --> 0:18:18.320 I'd realized I could see my bone and my arm there, 0:18:18.359 --> 0:18:24.359 and I couldn't move my legs, and I was like, oh, 0:18:24.680 --> 0:18:27.679 I don't think I can help myself here. Like I 0:18:27.720 --> 0:18:30.040 couldn't swim. I couldn't swim or hold on or you 0:18:30.080 --> 0:18:32.959 hear these amazing stories of people who saved their kids 0:18:33.000 --> 0:18:36.560 and did things. Not my story. You know. I was 0:18:36.640 --> 0:18:41.200 truly hopeless and helpless. And I remember thinking, Okay, well 0:18:41.240 --> 0:18:43.439 this is this is it probably for me because I 0:18:43.560 --> 0:18:46.359 just but the surge came and kind of sucked me 0:18:47.440 --> 0:18:50.640 next to the structure and there was I know from 0:18:50.720 --> 0:18:53.680 the water subsiding ultimately that there was just a huge 0:18:53.760 --> 0:18:56.000 mountain of debris that had built up against the side 0:18:56.040 --> 0:18:58.959 of this structure. And I got sort of wedged in 0:18:59.000 --> 0:19:02.280 between kind of near the utter and this mountain, and 0:19:02.320 --> 0:19:05.080 I had a little air pocket that I was able 0:19:05.080 --> 0:19:07.920 to sort of sit in, and I just remember feeling 0:19:08.000 --> 0:19:11.480 the weight of this mountain of debris just pressing against me, thinking, 0:19:11.480 --> 0:19:13.120 oh my god, I'm going to be crushed to death, 0:19:13.280 --> 0:19:15.800 or just never didn't feel none of it was like 0:19:15.920 --> 0:19:18.439 nice water, you know that you could navigate through or 0:19:18.480 --> 0:19:21.439 anything like that. It felt like it was very It 0:19:21.440 --> 0:19:24.480 felt like being in a tip that had water in it, 0:19:24.560 --> 0:19:30.520 you know, So the water did subside ultimately, and then 0:19:30.560 --> 0:19:33.440 the island sort of came alive again. You know, there 0:19:33.520 --> 0:19:36.280 was it was, you know, like something out of a 0:19:36.320 --> 0:19:36.840 horror movie. 0:19:37.200 --> 0:19:41.000 Really, So when it did subside, was there ever, and 0:19:41.040 --> 0:19:43.840 again just getting into your head, was there ever a 0:19:43.880 --> 0:19:47.359 sigh of relief going that's over now, but then having 0:19:47.400 --> 0:19:50.200 to deal with a whole new world of pain, which. 0:19:50.040 --> 0:19:50.920 Were your injuries. 0:19:51.400 --> 0:19:54.120 Was there moment where the water went where you could 0:19:54.160 --> 0:19:56.440 actually think and hear, and was there. 0:19:56.400 --> 0:19:57.080 A moment. 0:19:58.640 --> 0:20:04.719 One thing that was you know, I wasn't my normal 0:20:04.760 --> 0:20:08.280 self for that whole day from that moment really, of course, 0:20:08.440 --> 0:20:12.120 you know, I wasn't thinking rationally. I became very very quiet. 0:20:12.880 --> 0:20:16.760 I speak a lot, you know, normally m I probably 0:20:16.800 --> 0:20:21.320 would have said a handful of words that day. I 0:20:21.320 --> 0:20:24.600 I think it was because I recognized I was badly injured, 0:20:25.320 --> 0:20:28.600 and I I just felt I just went deep into myself. 0:20:29.280 --> 0:20:33.920 You know, I wasn't really I I was very conscious 0:20:34.280 --> 0:20:40.919 almost immediately of people running around, screaming, searching, and a 0:20:40.960 --> 0:20:43.040 lot of people saying there's gonna be another way, There's 0:20:43.040 --> 0:20:46.160 gonna be you know, people were running to the mountains 0:20:46.960 --> 0:20:49.480 and trying it. They were kind of evacuating the area, 0:20:50.160 --> 0:20:52.520 and I was, you know, unable to move. I'm steal 0:20:52.560 --> 0:20:55.560 in this mountain of debris, and I just remember just 0:20:55.800 --> 0:20:59.280 being unable to help myself or do anything for me. 0:21:00.280 --> 0:21:02.400 How did you get off the rooftop? 0:21:02.480 --> 0:21:02.600 Then? 0:21:02.640 --> 0:21:07.640 Now? Yeah, so some guys that I always describe them 0:21:07.640 --> 0:21:10.040 as backpackers, but I don't know why I would call 0:21:10.080 --> 0:21:13.840 them that. Maybe they had a backpack. It's just like 0:21:14.040 --> 0:21:17.680 they were just young guys. And they came by and 0:21:17.760 --> 0:21:20.440 they put me on a door that was in the 0:21:20.480 --> 0:21:23.560 mountain of the debris, climbed up it, and then kind 0:21:23.560 --> 0:21:26.399 of navigated me down. I remember like sliding off and 0:21:26.560 --> 0:21:31.000 this and that, and I kind of remember thinking this 0:21:31.119 --> 0:21:35.879 is almost comical, like it's you know, it's ridiculous. 0:21:35.280 --> 0:21:37.719 Like you must have been there for some some amount 0:21:37.720 --> 0:21:38.000 of time. 0:21:38.000 --> 0:21:40.200 And yeah, and I know that you can't free shake 0:21:40.280 --> 0:21:42.840 time because you know, the adrenaline is kicking in. You're 0:21:42.840 --> 0:21:46.120 going in and out of shock at one, but god, 0:21:46.200 --> 0:21:48.199 you must have been there for a while for the 0:21:48.280 --> 0:21:52.760 second wave to then hit and then for everything to subside, 0:21:53.280 --> 0:21:56.560 for people to actually go out, you know, or look 0:21:56.600 --> 0:22:00.520 around and have that that calavity of mine to go right. 0:22:00.720 --> 0:22:02.480 Actually, we need to start helping people, messing. 0:22:02.600 --> 0:22:04.960 What was amazing was the amount of people helping people, 0:22:05.280 --> 0:22:07.200 you know, instead of those instead of flying to the 0:22:07.280 --> 0:22:09.439 mountains out of fear of their own lives. You know, 0:22:09.960 --> 0:22:11.960 a lot of people were going from place to place 0:22:12.119 --> 0:22:15.960 and it was incredible, you know, to see the amount 0:22:16.040 --> 0:22:20.280 of sort of camaraderie. This girl needs help, come on, 0:22:20.320 --> 0:22:21.520 will come in to say. I mean, I don't even 0:22:21.560 --> 0:22:23.400 know if these people were doctors or what they were, 0:22:23.520 --> 0:22:28.480 but it was the instinct to assist was amazing. And 0:22:29.440 --> 0:22:32.200 my boyfriend at the time was you know, he had 0:22:32.440 --> 0:22:34.440 found me by this point, and so I think he 0:22:34.640 --> 0:22:36.359 might have directed a bit of traffic around me. 0:22:36.600 --> 0:22:37.639 I was going to ask about him, so. 0:22:37.680 --> 0:22:40.920 Yea yeah, and he sort of went the other way, 0:22:40.960 --> 0:22:42.800 but he was standing, so I think he was in 0:22:42.840 --> 0:22:45.600 a bit of a better position. And he was quite 0:22:45.600 --> 0:22:47.960 badly injured to his lower half of his body, but 0:22:48.600 --> 0:22:51.320 like quite deep lacerations to his legs and things like that. 0:22:52.560 --> 0:22:55.720 But I have no doubt he was directing traffic to 0:22:55.720 --> 0:22:59.119 get me to a safe place. And you know, I 0:22:59.119 --> 0:23:02.080 remember this brown, old brown door that I was on 0:23:02.800 --> 0:23:04.520 and they sort of used it as a stretcher. So 0:23:04.520 --> 0:23:08.000 they got me down ultimately, and then took me to 0:23:08.080 --> 0:23:12.640 the rooftop of a hotel called the Peppe Princess, and 0:23:12.960 --> 0:23:16.240 that was a rooftop that was a it was a bar, 0:23:16.640 --> 0:23:19.160 had a pool and sun loungers and I've since been 0:23:19.200 --> 0:23:21.840 back there and I see these people, you know, lying 0:23:21.880 --> 0:23:25.160 on these sun lounges, you know, looking like they're dead. 0:23:25.200 --> 0:23:28.000 But my experience was there were actually lots of dead 0:23:28.040 --> 0:23:31.240 people on that on that rooftop, and I was taken 0:23:31.280 --> 0:23:33.840 there and I was put on a sun lounger, and 0:23:33.880 --> 0:23:38.000 I just remember being feeling just really quiet, and I, 0:23:38.240 --> 0:23:41.680 you know, I'm really needle phobic and I always have been, 0:23:42.320 --> 0:23:44.040 and all I could think about was the fact that 0:23:44.080 --> 0:23:45.760 I probably would have to have a needle because of 0:23:45.760 --> 0:23:48.359 my injuries, and just sort of like you know, the 0:23:48.400 --> 0:23:50.480 funny things that you think of when like that's the 0:23:50.560 --> 0:23:53.600 least of my worries, really, like just crazy thoughts. And 0:23:54.240 --> 0:23:57.760 there was just a lot of activity around me. There 0:23:57.800 --> 0:24:00.000 was a lot of bodies being brought up to that area. 0:24:00.240 --> 0:24:02.600 Did you feel like you were in a dream or 0:24:02.600 --> 0:24:05.280 on out body? Except yeah, for sure, for sure. I 0:24:05.320 --> 0:24:06.000 can't imagine. 0:24:06.000 --> 0:24:08.040 It was a very surreal experience. 0:24:08.080 --> 0:24:11.040 I mean, for your injuries were really you didn't realize 0:24:11.040 --> 0:24:11.560 it at the time. 0:24:11.600 --> 0:24:14.440 But I didn't feel really, I didn't really feel pain. 0:24:14.680 --> 0:24:16.480 When did the pain kick in? When did you start 0:24:16.520 --> 0:24:17.080 to realize. 0:24:17.119 --> 0:24:19.959 I remember that towards the end of the day, I 0:24:20.040 --> 0:24:25.960 felt uncomfortable and I felt my Obviously, I had obviously 0:24:26.320 --> 0:24:29.200 had some bad internal bleeding in around my pelvis area, 0:24:30.160 --> 0:24:34.520 and I remember my stomach feeling quite large and rock hard, 0:24:34.880 --> 0:24:39.160 and I was just getting weaker and speaking less, and 0:24:39.440 --> 0:24:42.840 I think that I was just losing blood basically, So 0:24:42.880 --> 0:24:45.359 I just wasn't you know. I remember people coming to 0:24:45.400 --> 0:24:48.840 put alcohol on my I had quite a few, like 0:24:49.000 --> 0:24:52.880 large open wounds on my legs and my arms, putting 0:24:53.160 --> 0:24:55.639 you know, finding mini bars and putting alcohol in me. 0:24:55.800 --> 0:24:59.960 And I remember I remember the sun being just so 0:25:00.119 --> 0:25:03.720 hot that day, and I remember feeling so and really 0:25:03.760 --> 0:25:07.240 hurting my wounds. And so there was, you know, a 0:25:07.280 --> 0:25:11.040 beautiful man who's an amazing friend of mine, who held 0:25:11.040 --> 0:25:14.240 as wrong over me for a long time. It's total stranger. 0:25:14.240 --> 0:25:17.800 I lost his wife that day. You know, I had 0:25:17.800 --> 0:25:21.199 two little kids with him. A lot of people helped me, 0:25:21.520 --> 0:25:28.040 you know, And it's so funny, you know, us privileged Australians, 0:25:28.040 --> 0:25:30.280 we just sort of think, you know, we're entitled to 0:25:30.320 --> 0:25:33.880 the best of everything. And I remember thinking, oh, I 0:25:33.920 --> 0:25:36.760 think I even said to Damien, you know, I don't worry. 0:25:37.000 --> 0:25:39.600 Australian government will be here in like no time at all, 0:25:40.440 --> 0:25:43.439 you know, will be, will be, will be right, And 0:25:43.480 --> 0:25:46.680 that help never came, you know, And many, many hours passed, 0:25:46.720 --> 0:25:49.760 and it wasn't really till the late afternoon till a 0:25:49.800 --> 0:25:54.959 plane went overhead and it was a military plane to 0:25:55.000 --> 0:26:00.360 survey the island. And then not long after that, a 0:26:00.359 --> 0:26:05.000 helicopter apatche helicopter game often see you know on your 0:26:05.760 --> 0:26:09.040 s those helicopters, and I think you then you cannot 0:26:09.040 --> 0:26:11.040 pay me enough money to get one of those a game. 0:26:21.000 --> 0:26:24.080 So all during that time, ultimately you're in a in 0:26:24.160 --> 0:26:27.040 a not even a field hospital. You're you're you're in 0:26:27.080 --> 0:26:33.879 this rooftop bar. You're alcohol reverting back to to the 0:26:33.960 --> 0:26:38.320 old school techniques of just infection with alcohol and and 0:26:38.480 --> 0:26:39.080 just comforting. 0:26:39.119 --> 0:26:41.080 That's all they could do because everything was destroyed, right. 0:26:41.160 --> 0:26:42.560 Yeah, A lot of people, a lot of people were 0:26:42.560 --> 0:26:43.440 trying to keep me awake. 0:26:43.720 --> 0:26:45.360 Yeah, what's your name? 0:26:45.400 --> 0:26:49.800 Where are you from? Yeah? That that's was And there 0:26:49.880 --> 0:26:53.840 was no form of communication. There's no people making phone 0:26:53.840 --> 0:26:56.520 calls or anything like that, and it was sort of 0:26:56.600 --> 0:27:00.000 you know, like we love going to these secluded feature 0:27:00.080 --> 0:27:04.960 resorts in these countries, but when something like that happens, 0:27:05.160 --> 0:27:09.240 you know, you really are isolated, very very far from 0:27:09.520 --> 0:27:14.119 you know, the eastern suburbs of Sydney. 0:27:13.359 --> 0:27:14.400 Your privileged life. 0:27:14.480 --> 0:27:20.600 Right when you're on this rooftop bar, you're being sort 0:27:20.600 --> 0:27:24.560 of treat in a way where you were just being 0:27:24.600 --> 0:27:28.760 made comfortable ultimately around you. You said that there was 0:27:28.880 --> 0:27:32.720 multiple individuals. Were they they are dead and alive or 0:27:32.720 --> 0:27:34.840 were they being being treated as well. 0:27:35.240 --> 0:27:38.159 I remember seeing a lot of dead bodies, and I 0:27:38.200 --> 0:27:42.159 don't believe i'd ever seen one before my life. It 0:27:42.200 --> 0:27:45.040 wasn't really horrific. These people looked like they were sleeping, 0:27:46.119 --> 0:27:48.200 and I think that that's because a lot of people 0:27:48.280 --> 0:27:51.360 just you know, were knocked on the head and drowned, 0:27:51.440 --> 0:27:54.160 and they just looked like they were a bit you know, broken, 0:27:54.400 --> 0:27:58.439 you know, a bit And they were just slowly bringing 0:27:58.440 --> 0:28:01.040 people up to that area and placing body is there. 0:28:01.080 --> 0:28:04.880 And I remember thinking times, I'm like, am I dead, 0:28:05.480 --> 0:28:09.000 you know, so a lot of like weird things going 0:28:09.000 --> 0:28:14.080 on in my head, of course, and then yeah, I 0:28:14.119 --> 0:28:16.600 think that there was a lot of that sort of 0:28:16.720 --> 0:28:21.440 area became a kind of centralized area because it was 0:28:21.480 --> 0:28:24.160 a little bit half the ground and people were coordinating 0:28:26.119 --> 0:28:28.440 care for other people. There were very few people who 0:28:28.480 --> 0:28:31.879 were really badly injured, you know. I mean, when you 0:28:32.040 --> 0:28:36.359 think about how many Australians are in Thailand over Christmas, 0:28:36.840 --> 0:28:41.880 I mean there's thousands. Only twenty Australians died in the tsunami, 0:28:41.960 --> 0:28:47.240 which is extraordinary. And my impression was you either you 0:28:48.240 --> 0:28:52.760 were really lucky and you were fine you died, But 0:28:52.800 --> 0:28:55.560 there were very few people around me who had bad 0:28:55.640 --> 0:28:58.760 injuries like me. And that may not be right. It's 0:28:58.840 --> 0:29:00.560 just in the area that I was, I didn't see 0:29:00.560 --> 0:29:03.840 that many. I know, there was an American woman who 0:29:03.880 --> 0:29:07.280 apparently I couldn't see her, I could hear her was 0:29:07.520 --> 0:29:10.280 quite badly injured, and she was the first person off 0:29:10.280 --> 0:29:16.680 the island and they winched her into the helicopter and 0:29:16.720 --> 0:29:18.720 I just remember thinking, I can't do that. There's no 0:29:18.800 --> 0:29:21.280 way I can be in one of those winch things. 0:29:22.960 --> 0:29:25.480 And there were a lot of people who were you know, 0:29:25.560 --> 0:29:27.720 really interesting, those people who you could tell were the 0:29:27.840 --> 0:29:31.920 natural leaders of coordinating care for people, and a lot 0:29:31.920 --> 0:29:34.880 of Australian, a lot of Australian voices in that as well, 0:29:34.880 --> 0:29:39.840 a lot of Australian accents. And at Apache, helicopter came 0:29:40.080 --> 0:29:42.600 and it landed in the water, in the shallow water, 0:29:44.200 --> 0:29:47.560 and there was a decision made to get me onto 0:29:47.600 --> 0:29:51.200 that helicopter. The helicopter was already quite full when it 0:29:51.320 --> 0:29:54.200 arrived at Pepe Island, and they put me back on 0:29:54.240 --> 0:29:58.920 my brown door and took me out into the water 0:29:59.480 --> 0:30:02.520 and placed me on the legs of quite a few 0:30:02.520 --> 0:30:06.400 people who were already seated into the helicopter. I think 0:30:06.440 --> 0:30:11.240 that would have been you know, five six pm, maybe 0:30:11.240 --> 0:30:15.479 even later. We'd been there all day really and you know, 0:30:15.680 --> 0:30:18.080 I know how you know, the idea that I was 0:30:18.080 --> 0:30:20.520 one of the first people off that island, You know, 0:30:20.560 --> 0:30:24.120 it's very sobering, you know, when you know you consider 0:30:24.160 --> 0:30:26.840 what ultimately happened to me in terms of infection, how 0:30:26.920 --> 0:30:31.200 lucky I was to get to medical care really really quickly. 0:30:31.280 --> 0:30:35.600 Did you realize on the rooftop before you rescue came, 0:30:35.680 --> 0:30:38.040 orfore help came, how badly injured you were? 0:30:38.120 --> 0:30:39.200 You said you looked at your arm. 0:30:39.360 --> 0:30:40.840 Well, I knew I could have been my legs, so 0:30:41.000 --> 0:30:44.200 I knew something bad had happened. I was very afraid. 0:30:43.800 --> 0:30:46.000 Of fractures from your legs. 0:30:46.800 --> 0:30:48.880 Well, I mean this, I had a very very deep 0:30:48.960 --> 0:30:53.120 wind here on my right upper leg and these were 0:30:53.160 --> 0:30:56.719 sort of there in my calf on my right so 0:30:56.840 --> 0:30:59.600 my left leg and my right leg. But I was 0:30:59.640 --> 0:31:01.840 more so, you know, the concern where I couldn't move, 0:31:02.560 --> 0:31:04.520 and I was you know, obviously I thought what that 0:31:04.640 --> 0:31:06.400 might be, and I didn't really want to think about 0:31:06.440 --> 0:31:06.960 that too much. 0:31:07.240 --> 0:31:10.120 In Spye, Yeah, you get put onto the helicopter. 0:31:10.240 --> 0:31:15.520 When do you realize, Rebecca, how serious your injuries are? 0:31:15.560 --> 0:31:17.480 Because you are not there? 0:31:17.480 --> 0:31:22.880 Not there forty operations, yeah, probably more, But. 0:31:23.080 --> 0:31:26.200 When do you realize, I would say, the extent of 0:31:26.280 --> 0:31:28.120 what you've just gone through, where you've just. 0:31:28.160 --> 0:31:30.120 Maybe six months later, oh really? 0:31:30.280 --> 0:31:34.760 Oh yeah, yeah, I mean again, it was the sort 0:31:34.760 --> 0:31:36.560 of you know, you're in a state of shock, you 0:31:36.600 --> 0:31:39.440 don't really understand what's happening to you, and then you 0:31:39.480 --> 0:31:42.360 get the good stuff, the drugs, and you're off in 0:31:42.400 --> 0:31:44.800 another world and you don't really know what's happening, and 0:31:44.880 --> 0:31:48.720 it wasn't really until you know, mid the following year after, 0:31:49.600 --> 0:31:54.320 you know, my injuries really manifested themselves that all that 0:31:54.880 --> 0:31:57.560 urgent medical care was required. I mean the day I 0:31:58.160 --> 0:32:00.560 got off the helicopter and was taken by ambulance to 0:32:00.600 --> 0:32:04.520 a local hospital and I had surgery straight away, like immediately, 0:32:04.640 --> 0:32:07.040 almost within minutes of arriving. 0:32:07.440 --> 0:32:09.960 And did no one tell you how serious you know 0:32:10.120 --> 0:32:11.600 it was? It just a look. 0:32:11.640 --> 0:32:14.680 It wasn't a normal hospital admission. It wasn't like you know, 0:32:15.200 --> 0:32:18.840 sitting at the children's hospital and getting triaged, and you 0:32:18.880 --> 0:32:21.800 know I was, I was sort of fading by that point. 0:32:21.880 --> 0:32:26.440 And I was operated on immediately, an emergency, you know, 0:32:26.560 --> 0:32:32.040 no anesthetic. I had a laparotomy, and then once they 0:32:32.120 --> 0:32:35.160 identified the source of bleeding, I was packed, then taken 0:32:35.240 --> 0:32:38.640 up to theater and then anesthetized. And you know, but 0:32:39.360 --> 0:32:46.000 those people had to be overwhelmed with so many terribly 0:32:46.040 --> 0:32:48.760 injured people, and to just manage that the way that 0:32:48.800 --> 0:32:52.720 they did, I mean, it's incredible, you know they would 0:32:52.800 --> 0:32:55.320 you know, these hospitals, these local hospitals are set up 0:32:55.320 --> 0:32:59.080 for you know, tourists who have upset tummies and dehydrated. 0:32:59.160 --> 0:33:02.720 Right there was a red dis injuries. They were incredible. 0:33:02.760 --> 0:33:05.320 I mean I got plenty of I got the last 0:33:05.360 --> 0:33:07.560 lot of blood they had available. 0:33:07.880 --> 0:33:12.720 And when did normality and you know, inverted kind of 0:33:12.800 --> 0:33:17.800 normality sort of kicking? When did you was it each 0:33:17.880 --> 0:33:19.760 day that you went through was it? Was it calming 0:33:19.800 --> 0:33:22.760 down more and more because two hundred and thirty thousand 0:33:22.760 --> 0:33:25.680 people plus died on that day. 0:33:26.800 --> 0:33:29.840 I mean it was chaotic in the first twenty four 0:33:29.880 --> 0:33:32.280 to forty eight hours. I mean the biggest thing was 0:33:32.360 --> 0:33:36.920 people frantically searching for other people, so people coming to 0:33:36.960 --> 0:33:39.680 see who I was. You know, a lot of people 0:33:39.800 --> 0:33:43.080 trying to record my physical features to put me on 0:33:43.120 --> 0:33:47.720 a register. Very very upset, people checking the beds next 0:33:47.720 --> 0:33:50.920 to me, going from place to place, and that was 0:33:50.960 --> 0:33:55.600 a big theme. I remember waking up from the surgery 0:33:55.640 --> 0:33:57.840 and award packed. You know, I was bed to bed 0:33:57.880 --> 0:34:01.960 to bed to bed to bed to people and being 0:34:02.120 --> 0:34:06.280 feeling very scared and you know, not knowing where I 0:34:06.480 --> 0:34:11.399 was what really because I had woken up, I didn't 0:34:11.440 --> 0:34:13.680 know what day it was or what was happening. And 0:34:13.719 --> 0:34:19.520 then I remember, after a long time summoning the courage 0:34:19.560 --> 0:34:22.279 to ask. There was a man who was British and 0:34:22.360 --> 0:34:25.799 my father's British and hearing his accent, and it just 0:34:25.840 --> 0:34:29.680 sort of, you know, jolted me into connected me with him, 0:34:29.719 --> 0:34:31.880 and I just sort of said, and it was it 0:34:31.920 --> 0:34:34.640 wasn't my father, as it turns out, I was another man. 0:34:34.760 --> 0:34:36.760 And I just said to him, can I use your phone? 0:34:37.080 --> 0:34:40.560 And he's like, of course you can, you know, And 0:34:40.600 --> 0:34:43.000 I thought, I've got a contact Australia. 0:34:43.320 --> 0:34:46.440 So you woke up out of these surgeries to no one. 0:34:47.280 --> 0:34:50.120 I remember being on the bed. I think I was. 0:34:50.239 --> 0:34:51.680 I don't even know if I had a gown on. 0:34:51.800 --> 0:34:57.040 I just remember feeling very vulnerable and exposed. And when 0:34:57.040 --> 0:35:00.920 I folcused this, I was confused. I was confused, and 0:35:01.040 --> 0:35:03.120 I wasn't in pain. Still, I still wasn't in pain. 0:35:04.719 --> 0:35:09.120 And the man handed me a mobile phone. And you know, 0:35:09.280 --> 0:35:11.120 if you got give it a mobile phone like which 0:35:12.520 --> 0:35:14.160 I couldn't. I couldn't remember a single number. 0:35:14.200 --> 0:35:15.080 But what are you going to say? 0:35:15.640 --> 0:35:18.720 You haven't got a clue what's going on where you are, 0:35:18.920 --> 0:35:19.760 what's happened? 0:35:19.840 --> 0:35:24.719 It's like what you're going to say on where I. 0:35:24.680 --> 0:35:27.000 Didn't know where I was. Yeah, it's a good point, 0:35:27.000 --> 0:35:28.880 and it's funny, you know, you'd think that you'd remember 0:35:28.880 --> 0:35:30.880 your parents' phone number, but I couldn't remember it for 0:35:30.880 --> 0:35:32.480 the life of me because I don't dial it. It's 0:35:32.480 --> 0:35:36.680 in my phone, of course, But I did actually remember 0:35:36.760 --> 0:35:39.520 the mobile phone number of the partner at my law 0:35:39.560 --> 0:35:41.480 firm that I worked for. I called him and he 0:35:41.560 --> 0:35:44.600 was driving down the coast on his holidays at the time, 0:35:44.640 --> 0:35:45.760 and he was like, hey. 0:35:46.160 --> 0:35:49.520 What's up. And I was like, I don't know. 0:35:50.239 --> 0:35:52.120 I need you to help me. I don't know where. 0:35:52.160 --> 0:35:56.400 I don't really know where I am, but I'm hurt. 0:35:57.239 --> 0:35:59.800 And then I started sort of speaking and then fortunately 0:35:59.840 --> 0:36:02.320 the the gentleman who was who lent me the phone 0:36:02.400 --> 0:36:04.799 just took over and said, look, this is where she is. 0:36:05.320 --> 0:36:07.360 This is what I think is going on with her. 0:36:07.400 --> 0:36:10.200 I don't really know. But and then of course, you know, 0:36:10.320 --> 0:36:13.840 working for, you know, a big Australian law firm was amazing. 0:36:14.200 --> 0:36:17.839 They sort of took everything over for me from there, 0:36:17.960 --> 0:36:22.560 and you know, parents insure as everyone who had to 0:36:22.600 --> 0:36:24.680 be notified. And I was in that local hospital for 0:36:25.800 --> 0:36:31.000 about two days, I believe, and then I got mediavaced 0:36:31.320 --> 0:36:36.400 on a DC ten to Bangkok. We were my partner 0:36:36.440 --> 0:36:37.840 and I were like kind of the own people on 0:36:37.880 --> 0:36:42.200 the plane and we got taken to a very nice 0:36:42.239 --> 0:36:46.759 American hospital in Bangkok, which which made me feel very comforted. 0:36:47.920 --> 0:36:50.719 So I was really really lucky that a I was 0:36:50.719 --> 0:36:53.400 able to get out of Krabi, which is where I 0:36:53.440 --> 0:36:57.400 was taken to Bangkok when I did, and then I was, 0:36:57.640 --> 0:37:01.280 you know, in the big American hospital and my family 0:37:01.320 --> 0:37:05.000 came to look after me there, and then they were 0:37:05.000 --> 0:37:07.279 really pushy and trying to get me back to Australia, 0:37:07.560 --> 0:37:09.840 and you know, I was very very lucky. I just 0:37:09.840 --> 0:37:13.080 don't even know what would have happened to me had 0:37:13.120 --> 0:37:16.360 I remained in Bangkok with the you know, given the 0:37:16.400 --> 0:37:20.840 severity of the infection that I was cultivating at the time. 0:37:22.680 --> 0:37:28.839 They quantus removed a whole section of seats and they 0:37:29.239 --> 0:37:33.000 brought over doctors and nurses from Australia, set up a 0:37:33.000 --> 0:37:37.799 little hospital on the plane, took me through cargo, and 0:37:37.840 --> 0:37:41.360 then I arrived in Australia. I remember when the plane 0:37:41.400 --> 0:37:43.920 sort of was touching down. I just been back on 0:37:43.920 --> 0:37:47.560 Australian soil. I just felt so much better, and there 0:37:47.600 --> 0:37:50.719 was you know, there was ambulances, sirens, and even though 0:37:50.719 --> 0:37:53.240 it had been many weeks really since it actually happened, 0:37:53.960 --> 0:37:56.279 and it was treated like an urgent. You know, I 0:37:56.320 --> 0:37:58.480 had put a neck brace on me straight away, and 0:37:59.600 --> 0:38:02.040 like the you know, you just can't I can't tell 0:38:02.080 --> 0:38:04.520 you just the Australian healthcare is just. 0:38:05.960 --> 0:38:09.520 Different level completely. What was it like when you saw 0:38:09.560 --> 0:38:11.080 your parents towards. 0:38:10.719 --> 0:38:13.640 That, well, I mean I remember feeling very guilty because 0:38:13.680 --> 0:38:17.719 my mum hates flying, and you know, I'm always you know, 0:38:17.760 --> 0:38:19.719 I was always getting into pickles that she had to 0:38:19.760 --> 0:38:22.080 come and you know, pick me up from the headmaster's office. 0:38:22.080 --> 0:38:23.560 And it felt I felt like that, and I was 0:38:23.640 --> 0:38:29.120 like sorry, and of course she was like she was 0:38:29.200 --> 0:38:31.640 she was sort of like, you're kidding. Like I obviously 0:38:31.680 --> 0:38:35.080 had no idea the extent of the disaster, and no 0:38:35.200 --> 0:38:39.640 idea of the panic and upset that they must have felt, 0:38:40.000 --> 0:38:41.879 you know, knowing that I had been caught up in it. 0:38:42.800 --> 0:38:44.960 They hadn't hadn't heard from me for some time, and 0:38:45.040 --> 0:38:48.040 so they were extremely worried that I had I had 0:38:49.280 --> 0:38:54.200 been been killed, and you know, I felt so happy 0:38:54.200 --> 0:38:57.040 that they were there, and my girlfriend came from the 0:38:57.160 --> 0:39:00.600 UK and another girlfriend came from Sydney, and I felt 0:39:00.680 --> 0:39:07.120 embarrassed from the attention. Actually, you know, yeah, but I 0:39:07.920 --> 0:39:11.960 guess from that point it's all really really hazy. From 0:39:12.000 --> 0:39:15.920 about New Year's was really hazy for me because I 0:39:15.920 --> 0:39:19.239 think that I was getting sick, and I think that 0:39:19.360 --> 0:39:21.399 my family were like, okay, there's something wrong with her, 0:39:22.040 --> 0:39:24.839 you know, and that was that caused them to look 0:39:24.880 --> 0:39:27.279 really closely at my body and to see that there 0:39:27.360 --> 0:39:32.319 was some shadowing on my lower back, which was effectively 0:39:32.800 --> 0:39:35.720 it was necrotizing vashi artists, which is a flesh eating, 0:39:36.760 --> 0:39:39.319 flesh eating infection, which is not very nice. And that's 0:39:39.320 --> 0:39:41.880 why I've had so many surgeries, because I went into 0:39:41.920 --> 0:39:45.759 surgery daily really for a very very long time. Yeah, 0:39:45.760 --> 0:39:47.560 I mean I had a lot of skin grafts, a 0:39:47.560 --> 0:39:49.520 lot of I mean I had so many. You know, 0:39:49.920 --> 0:39:52.160 usually when you get admitted to hospital, you get you know, 0:39:52.239 --> 0:39:54.600 you have a team, so you have like the AUTHO 0:39:54.640 --> 0:39:56.239 team of the ones looking after you if you're having 0:39:56.280 --> 0:39:59.680 a knee replaced or whatever. I had teams glore. It 0:39:59.719 --> 0:40:02.160 was just sort of and of course, you know, people 0:40:02.239 --> 0:40:05.640 were so kind to me so and I didn't really 0:40:05.680 --> 0:40:09.240 understand the attention, and of course I had no idea 0:40:09.680 --> 0:40:12.680 what an awful experience it was for the whole world, 0:40:13.400 --> 0:40:15.600 and so very few people. I think I might have 0:40:15.680 --> 0:40:18.680 been the only patient at Westmead Hospital who was from 0:40:18.760 --> 0:40:22.359 the tsunami, and so I really got you know, the 0:40:22.360 --> 0:40:24.319 best care. People were so kind to me. 0:40:24.800 --> 0:40:27.600 Wow, we were running out of time. But there's a 0:40:27.600 --> 0:40:32.359 couple of questions I want to ask you. Why did 0:40:32.440 --> 0:40:35.719 you want to go back after ten years of the 0:40:35.760 --> 0:40:39.440 ten year anniversary? Was that did you feel like that 0:40:39.600 --> 0:40:41.640 that was part of your recovery. 0:40:42.600 --> 0:40:45.480 Yeah, definitely. I felt it was a big milestone, you know, 0:40:45.880 --> 0:40:49.280 getting through ten years and I was still having surgery 0:40:49.320 --> 0:40:51.880 by then and I still have it now, you know, 0:40:52.000 --> 0:40:56.479 but nothing life saving. And I felt that the main 0:40:56.520 --> 0:40:59.440 reason I went back was to you know, honor the 0:40:59.480 --> 0:41:02.520 memory of some of the people, you know, I felt 0:41:02.520 --> 0:41:05.880 that that was the very least I could do. And 0:41:06.000 --> 0:41:08.600 also to confront it. You know, in my head, that 0:41:08.680 --> 0:41:12.759 place was a scary, awful, gruesome place. And then to 0:41:12.840 --> 0:41:17.279 go there and realize life goes on, my friend, that's 0:41:17.320 --> 0:41:20.719 in your head. People were having peanut coladas. 0:41:20.719 --> 0:41:22.880 And you're going back to the same rooftop bars. 0:41:22.840 --> 0:41:27.960 Exactly, of course, right, everyone's happy life has moved on, right, 0:41:28.040 --> 0:41:30.400 And so it was just to me when I was 0:41:30.440 --> 0:41:33.919 there and I went back, I was like, it kind 0:41:33.920 --> 0:41:36.680 of clicked that, you know, the only person really holding 0:41:36.719 --> 0:41:39.200 me back is myself and my memories in my head. Right, 0:41:39.320 --> 0:41:43.359 so they've all moved on and this place life goes 0:41:43.400 --> 0:41:46.560 on here and it actually is an idyllic, beautiful place, 0:41:47.440 --> 0:41:50.000 And it was just this one moment in time, right 0:41:51.360 --> 0:41:55.480 and life has moved on. It gave me perspective. You know, 0:41:55.560 --> 0:41:57.520 this giant tree that I remember looking at all day 0:41:57.640 --> 0:42:00.520 was actually not giant at all. You know, those sorts 0:42:00.560 --> 0:42:04.000 of things that were just exaggerated in my mind. And yeah, 0:42:04.040 --> 0:42:06.560 it was a terrible thing. But to go there and 0:42:06.600 --> 0:42:09.600 just sort of pay respects to, you know, the wife 0:42:09.640 --> 0:42:12.680 of the man that helped me, and that was good. 0:42:12.800 --> 0:42:13.800 It was sort of cathartic. 0:42:13.840 --> 0:42:15.319 Actually, I love that. 0:42:16.160 --> 0:42:20.520 One final question, the twenty year anniversary is coming up. Yeah, 0:42:20.640 --> 0:42:22.640 have you got any plans for that? 0:42:22.760 --> 0:42:24.480 And if you have, what there? Yeah? 0:42:24.600 --> 0:42:27.279 Well, I mean I probably would have gone back to 0:42:27.360 --> 0:42:31.000 Thailand had nothing else to do, but I have a 0:42:31.040 --> 0:42:35.239 beautiful friend who's getting married in Bali actually, so I mean, 0:42:35.400 --> 0:42:38.200 what you know I have I've been so lucky that 0:42:38.200 --> 0:42:41.120 I've been able to have three children since the tsunami 0:42:41.160 --> 0:42:44.320 and the idea of just having a beautiful family holiday 0:42:44.360 --> 0:42:47.879 with them and celebrating life. Yeah. Absolutely, and it's sort 0:42:47.880 --> 0:42:49.279 of you know a lot of people said you can 0:42:49.320 --> 0:42:53.000 do something, and I don't know. Maybe I probably will 0:42:53.040 --> 0:42:56.040 call the people who helped me and whatever and just say, hey, 0:42:56.480 --> 0:43:02.520 twenty years makes me feel ancient. But yeah, it really 0:43:02.520 --> 0:43:05.000 does date you, like people can literally work out your age. 0:43:05.320 --> 0:43:08.520 So I think I'll just sort of enjoy, you know, 0:43:08.640 --> 0:43:12.279 my family and just sort of, you know, really think 0:43:12.320 --> 0:43:15.759 about just how lucky I am and you know, how 0:43:15.840 --> 0:43:18.360 function has returned to my life and how grateful I 0:43:18.400 --> 0:43:18.759 am for that. 0:43:19.600 --> 0:43:22.680 Well, Rebecca, thank you ever so much for sharing your 0:43:22.719 --> 0:43:23.600 story with us. 0:43:23.640 --> 0:43:26.480 Inspirational. It just goes to prove what. 0:43:26.560 --> 0:43:29.120 The mind and the body is really really capable of, 0:43:29.360 --> 0:43:32.000 you know, especially when you're thrust into a situation that 0:43:32.040 --> 0:43:35.040 you can't control, how it goes into survival mode, how 0:43:35.080 --> 0:43:35.759 it protects you. 0:43:36.160 --> 0:43:36.879 Thank you so much. 0:43:37.120 --> 0:43:37.920 Thanks sam. 0:43:38.560 --> 0:43:42.080 My guest today was Rebecca Giles. Thanks for listening to 0:43:42.120 --> 0:43:45.120 this episode of head Game. If you enjoyed it, we 0:43:45.360 --> 0:43:48.560 share it with a friend. I'm at Middleton. See you 0:43:48.640 --> 0:43:49.760 again next time.