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