From L'Est Républicain, Friday, 31
December, 2004
A dozen times I thought I would die
Denis Caromel from Laître-sous-Amance near Nancy, France, narrowly escaped
death in Sri Lanka. But his wife Isabelle Attali and their children Ugo, age 8,
and Tom, age 5, are missing.
Denis Caromel, 41, teaches at the University of Nice and is a member of the
“Institut Universitaire de France”. His Bordeaux-born wife, Isabelle Attali,
41, is director of research at INRIA, France’s computer and automation research
center, and vice-chairperson of the institution’s assessment committee. The
couple was in Sri Lanka to deliver a series of lectures to students at a Unesco
scientific study center (CIMPA-UNESCO). Last Saturday, Denis, Isabelle and
their two sons went to Yala West in southern Sri Lanka for the weekend. Denis
returned to France on Monday, and from his hospital bed recounted with emotion
and striking lucidity the harrowing story of his experience during the tsunami.
”I didn’t understand”
On Sunday at about 9 am, we were still in
our hotel room. My son Ugo said, “Now I understand why you’re not allowed to
swim on that beach. The waves are coming all the way up here.” We could see
that a small wave had swept over a small dune and had almost reached the hotel.
We unfortunately failed to realize what this meant and just assumed that it was
an unusually large wave. We told the children, who were just outside the hotel
room, to come back inside. A second after they closed the door, a huge wave hit
our window and came into the room, pushing me and my children back with
incredible force. I had no idea what was happening. I had no idea why we’d
suddenly been pushed 15 feet backward by this small wave. I shouted to my wife,
“Come over here, quick.” But the wave knocked her over too. The water swept
into the bathroom, where I ended up with my eight year old, and all of a sudden
he and I found ourselves stuck to the ceiling.
”I have no idea where they are”
The water rose to about 8 feet in a fraction of a second. It was really
unbelievable. I grabbed my son by the arm to keep his head out of the water. He
was looking at me uncomprehendingly. He had no idea what was happening. And
then the ceiling collapsed and the two of us were suddenly underwater. I was
half unconscious, and it was then that I lost my son. I have no idea what
happened to him.
I was underwater, half dazed. Then there
was a huge noise and the walls collapsed. I could feel the water carrying me
away very quickly. The water was about 12 feet deep. I was thrown outside and
the force brought me back up to the surface, where I saw my five year old, Tom,
who must have been thrown outside as well. He was floating right there beside
me. He was looking at me uncomprehendingly, and was trying to swim a bit. I
grabbed him and began trying to escape with him. I tried swimming too, to get
us out of there. But the current was incredibly strong and there were huge
eddies. We were thrown at an incredibly high speed. We were thrown violently up
against a tree. The force of hitting the tree tore Tom away from me. I have no
idea what happened to him. I was again underwater. I was sucked under at least
ten times and then I found myself pinned under a tree. I remember that I kept
struggling to find a way out. Each time I was sucked under, I thought I was
going to die. A few times I thought I was going to just give up and die because
it was such a struggle to stay alive. I managed to climb up onto a tree, but it
collapsed and I was again swept away by the water. I then managed to climb up
on another tree, where I screamed, hoping that I’d find my family. I was in
that tree for maybe five or ten minutes. I heard people screaming everywhere.
The last time I saw my wife Isabelle is when she was swept away by the wave
near the hotel room window. I have no idea what happened to her or where she
is. All of this happened in less than three minutes. There was no time to do
anything.
”Except for a miracle”
When the water receded, I saw that I had open wounds all over my body, and
pieces of my flesh were hanging down around my feet. These wounds became
infected later on. I came down from the tree and wandered around for about 45
minutes trying to find my wife and children. I encountered several survivors.
And just then people began shouting. “The waves are coming back.” I climbed up
a tree, but the wave didn’t come back. I continued looking for my family. I
crossed a river, hoping to find them there. I called out for them, but I saw
nobody.
People began arriving in jeeps to evacuate
us, but I was unwilling to leave because I wanted to look for my wife and
children. Then I heard someone shout, “It’s coming again.” So they made me get
in a jeep and told me that people had already been evacuated and that maybe my
family had been too. So I left. I was brought to a rural hospital. The scene
was horrendous there. There were injured people everywhere. It was like the
hospice from hell. I went into every room of that place looking for my wife and
children, but they were nowhere to be found. My feet were beginning to swell
up. I was given medical attention. A surgeon sewed up the two open wounds
without administering any anesthesia. They did what they could.
I was unable to return to the hotel, but someone told me that it had been
completely destroyed. I met a Belgian guy whose girlfriend had been found dead
right next to our hotel. She’d been trapped there.
Unfortunately there’s little chance that Isabelle, Tom and Ugo survived. Except
for a miracle. It’s been four days now. I’ve had calls made to all the
hospitals, but there’s no sign of my wife and children. Several different teams
are looking for them.
Comments recorded by Marcel GAY
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Text translated by Marie Britton, Translator
Email: marie.britton NOSPAM @ e-transmail
. com