Supermodel Petra Nemcova has now started a foundation that helps children. However, there is a tragic story behind it.
It dates back to 2004 when Nemcova and her late boyfriend, Simon Atlee, were on vacation in Thailand.
The day after Christmas, on December 26, she recalled how she had shared breakfast with Atlee and went on a peaceful walk along the beach.
Speaking to PEOPLE, the supermodel mentioned that it was the day she was packing her luggage and cleaning up the bungalow before their departure.
While the trip was filled with peaceful experiences, such as scuba diving, Atlee had even been planning to propose to her.
Nemcova also recalled that their resort faced a swimming pool filled with many families and children.
However, this pool soon turned into a scene of chaos that first alerted her, as she heard everyone present screaming. Without getting a proper glimpse of what was happening, a huge wave crashed into her bungalow, shattering the glass windows.
Shards of glass sliced through the supermodel’s skin as the entire bungalow was submerged.
“I heard Simon screaming my name, and it was the last time I heard him,” Petra Nemcova recalled.
The celebrity also recalled how, at one point, she couldn’t breathe and had made peace with her own death. However, she soon saw the sky again.
Nemcova remembered grabbing large leaves from a palm tree, clinging to them for almost eight hours.
While enduring the physical pain of her shattered pelvis, Nemcova also heard children crying. However, their wailing eventually went silent. ‘And that meant that they couldn’t hold on,’ she added.
Unable to move, trapped in debris, and powerless to help those children, Nemcova turned this physical and emotional tragedy into a mission.
In 2005, she founded the worldwide Happy Hearts Fund to support children who have become victims of such disasters. The now focuses on rebuilding safer schools in affected areas.
The tsunami she survived was the world’s worst, tearing through Asia. It was triggered by a 9.1 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Indonesia.