Posted on 01/01/2005 2:02:22 PM PST by gortklattu
From an earlier posting:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1310914/posts
Photo family's amazing survival From correspondents in Stockholm January 2, 2005
A SERIES of heart-rending photos showing a mother dashing into the tsunami off Thailand in a desperate bid to save her family were cabled out around the world this week.
But the family's fate remained unknown until today, when the Swedish mum came forward to say they had all survived.
"I was yelling at them to run, but they couldn't hear me," 37-year-old Karin Svaerd told the daily Expressen, describing her desperation as her three sons, brother and brother-in-law snorkelled in the water last Sunday, unaware of the pending danger.
The series of three pictures showed confused vacationers on the Ray Leh Beach in Krabi, Thailand, looking at the water receding before the tsunami hit the beach.
Another shot showed swimmers running in to shore once they saw the tower of water approaching.
But Mrs Svaerd, unlike everyone else in the picture, was running out toward the wave in a desperate bid to reach her family.
Her sons Anton, 14, Filip, 11 and Viktor, 10, could not see the wave. Witnesses heard her scream: "Oh my god, not my children!"
Today, Mrs Svaerd told Expressen: "I yelled 'run, run'." But her voice was drowned out by the roar of the water.
"I got 150 meters out before they started to run. By then they'd also seen the wave."
The family got caught in the tsunami and was tossed around underwater. But one by one they managed to get to their feet and make it to higher ground.
An hour after the first wave hit, the family members, including Mrs Svaerd's husband and sister, who were sunbathing on the beach, had managed to locate each other.
"We all survived. That feeling is hard to describe," she said.
Agence France-Presse
amazing!!!!
Amazing!
Thank G-d their whole family was spared.
PING!
How wonderful! I've not been able to get these people out of my mind. It was as if I could almost put myself in the woman's place and it was a horrible feeling. I just knew, as did many others, that they were all dead. So many of us were so sad about these pictures. That they lived is truly a miracle, a wonderful Christmas present.
Thank you for posting this!! I just spent about 45 minutes reading through the other thread, hoping to hear that they survived. The story broke my heart thinking how helpless this mother and this father must have felt. I am so glad this one story turned out the way it did!
Incredible
I have a question about your post, please...
Is "God" a disparaging word? Why did you choose to post His Holy Name without an "o?" What am I missing?
Anyone?
You are a regular Bartlett. Nice quote you thought up there.
Maybe Yaelle is Jewish.
I think that is a form of reverence, and not to be uttered lightly.
Bump.
Jews reverence the name of God so much they refuse to write his middle initial.
because they awe at the name and want to set it apart.
Thanks for the post. Since first seeing these pictures, I have been concerned about the fate of this family. We can all place ourselves in this picture with these circumstances. Yes, this is good news in the middle of so much tragedy.
How about a nice holiday in ....Miami?
In more peaceful times:
I felt so troubled by those photos (and the comments on the woman walking out on other threads)...I thought the last moments of those peoples lives were captured and their demise was the topic of discussion for strangers a world away. It really bothered me. As I a mom, I too know that I would risk my life in an instant to save my children...and it just was heartbreaking to think of what that mom was going thru in those photos. I am thrilled to know that they survived.
It is reverent to spell the Lord's name by omitting the "o?" Well, that is certainly my first new thing learned in 2005.
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