Supermodel Petra Nemcova Almost Died in the World's Worst Tsunami. How She Overcame Fear of Water and Healed (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Petra Nemcova’s pelvis shattered in four placeswhen a tidal wave of roiling black waterconsumed the bungalow in Khao Lak, Thailand, where she and her then-boyfriend, photographer Simon Atlee, were vacationing in 2004.

It was the day after Christmas, and her life was never going to be the same again.

The two were happy and in love, having spent their trip scuba diving, and, unbeknownst to Nemcova at the time, Atlee even had imminent plans to propose.

Their vacation home at the resort faced the swimming pool, which was filled with both relaxing travelers and families entertaining exuberant children. So, when all Nemcova suddenly heard was screaming that morning, she barely had time to catch a glimpse out the window toward the poolbefore tragedy struck.

For more on Petra Nemcova’s account of the 2004 tsunami and other survivor stories, pick up this week’s issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday, orsubscribe.

Petra Nemcova photographed in Miami on Nov. 18.Mary Beth Koeth

Mary Beth Koeth

“Everything happened in split seconds. I looked up to see frantic movement and people jumping and then in the next second, the wave is crashing into the bungalow and breaking all of the glass windows,” she recalls.

Shards of glass sliced Nemcova’s skin as the entire bungalow went under. She distinctly remembers Atlee calling out for her.

“I heard Simon screaming my name,” she says, “and it was the last time I heard him.”

Petra Nemcova (left) and Simon Atlee at a charity fashion show in Prague in 2004.Lucie Vitkova/CTK/ABACA

Lucie Vitkova/CTK/ABACA

The subsequent series of waves — some reaching reported heights of 150 feet — decimated the region, affecting at least 12 countries and killing an estimated 230,000 people, including Atlee, whose body wasn’t recovered until months later. Nemcova barely survived.

Scientists werestunned at the scale of the horror: Nothing like this had happened in modern history, and there had been no warning for the people at the water’s edge.

Railay Beach in Thailand in Dec. 26, 2004.

“At some point I couldn’t breathe anymore. And I thought, ‘That’s it.’ That’s my last moment. And I let go. And actually, it was the most blissful moment of my life,” Nemcova remembers now, describing how she made peace with her own death.

Nemcova ultimately grabbed the large leaves of a palm tree, where she clung for “an incredibly long eight hours.”

“Hearing children screaming for help and not being able to help them, that leaves such a powerful mark," she says. “Today and every day, I have a choice to help.”

Petra Nemcova with All Hands and Hearts in disaster relief location: Yapatera, Peru.

Nemcova’s organization has since grown into the nonprofit she co-founded,All Hands and Hearts, unique in their ability to help global communities as they arrive on site early and stay late to help rebuild schools and homes in a disaster-resilient way.

“You are helping others to rebuild their lives, but many times your life also gets, in a way, rebuilt,” Nemcova says of the volunteer work in more than 28 countries globally. “You find a purpose.”

She says her life now is one full of just that: purpose and joy.

Petra Nemcova (right) with husband Benjamin Larretche and their son, Bodhi.

“My meditation and energy work, grieving and gratitude practice and then just focusing on positivity,” she explains. “The doctors said that it takes many people with the same injuries [I had] two years to recover. I healed in four months.”

“I went under the water and I was panicking,” she says. “My heart was going so fast and I just couldn’t even breathe properly, but it’s very important not to live in a life of any fear. That’s why I did it.”

Admittedly, Nemcova says, it took her a few years before “the sounds of palm leaves crashing onto the roof of a hotel or a bungalow” didn’t send her body into a full panic, but she worked hard to address her fear head-on.

“And then it lost power over me. If you appreciate the gift of air, if you appreciate the ability to move your legs, everything else is much richer. Your life is happier,” she says. “You’re living instead of just surviving.”

source: people.com