Miracle survival from 2004 tsunami
Published: January 2, 2006
A Canterbury family caught up in the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami is only now sharing its remarkable survival story.
Working in Kuwait but holidaying in the Seychelles at the time, the Morgan family was caught up in the huge waves and hurled hundreds of metres through bush.
Against all odds their six month old baby survived and the family had more than the usual to celebrate this new year.
It’s a year since they were torn apart by the tsunami and their baby William was washed away in the huge waves.
The Morgans were enjoying a day on the beach in the Seychelles when they were caught up in the disaster.
“No sooner had we seen it coming than it hit us and it tore us from the trees that we held on to and you were just being thrown through this torrent of water through the bush and rocks,” Brent Morgan said.
Tiny William was ripped from his mother’s arms.
“I said to Katherine where’s William and she said to me he’s gone- I don’t know where he is, he must be drowned,” Brent said.
The huge waves had caused severe damage to the Seychelle Islands, destroying buildings and leaving four people dead.
For an agonising half an hour Brent and Katherine thought William was also dead. But his dad eventually found him washed hundreds of metres away hanging upside down in a tree.
“He was covered in mud and sticks and things…I didn’t want to touch him at first because I thought oh no I think he’s dead but it had to be overcome at some stage and I just gently pulled him out of the bushes and he made a whimpering noise.”
Incredibly there was hardly a scratch or mark on him and a year later he’s making the most of solid ground. The traumatic experience seems to have had little effect on him.
“I still think about it a lot - we’re just very, very fortunate to have him,” said Brent.
“I’m just very, very protective of him and he’s very special.”
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