Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day in the United States, and seeking good news for which we could be thankful, I ran across a story of a young British girl who exercised responsibility – and made approximately 100 people, plus their friends and families, extremely thankful. It happened nearly a year ago, but her story surfaced again in early November as she visited the United Nations and met with Former President Bill Clinton.
Tilly Smith, a ten-year old schoolgirl, was visiting Thailand with her parents last December 26, the day the killer tsunami took so many lives. Specifically, Tilly and her family had flown from Great Britain to holiday on the island of Phuket. It was a beautiful day, and the family decided to take a walk on the tranquil beach near the Marriott Phuket Resort and Spa.
As they walked, Tilly saw a bubbling along the edge of the water, and noticed that the foam was sizzling as though in a frying pan. Waves were coming in as usual, but they were not going out as usual. Each wave came in a little farther than the previous one, marching quietly up the beautiful beach toward the hotel.
No one else seemed to notice, but Tilly, who liked geography study in school, had finished a unit on tsunamis just two weeks before going to Thailand. She knew these were tell-tale signs of big waves driven by earthquakes; waves that were only minutes away.
Frantically, Tilly told her mother. She warned Mum that a tsunami was going to happen. Her mother told Tilly it was just another day at the beach. She saw nothing unusual.
At that point, Tilly went hysterical, her father reports. She knew everyone was in danger. She convinced her father, who relayed her warning to the hotel staff. That wasn’t enough for Tilly, though. Risking her own safety, Tilly ran back to the beach where approximately 100 people relaxed in the sunshine. She told the Japanese-born chef of the hotel, and although he may not have understood everything Tilly said, the chef did recognize the Japanese word, “tsunami!” He had never seen one, but he didn’t care to change that now. He and a security guard spread the warning quickly, and the sun seekers dashed from the beach – mere minutes before the devastating tsunami struck.
That beach near the Marriott Hotel was one of the few in Phuket where no one was killed or seriously hurt. The people who might have been killed can celebrate Thanksgiving Day 2005 because a ten-year old girl on vacation exercised responsibility. They lived because Tilly Smith did what she needed to do, to the utmost of her ability, even at personal sacrifice.
On Thursday, November 3, 2005, Tilly was welcomed at U.N. headquarters by officials of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, a Geneva-based U.N. agency that is trying to educate people worldwide on proper disaster response.
Tilly’s story is a simple reminder that a good character education program coupled with good teaching on disaster reduction can save lives – and that’s cause for thanksgiving.
That’s the view from my chair. What’s your view?