'We retraced our daughter's last steps after tsunami death'

Deborah Garlick was travelling with her boyfriend in Khao Lak, Thailand, when a huge tsunami struck 20 years ago, killing about 228,000 people in the biggest natural disaster of the century.

It would be four months before her parents Margaret and Bryson received official confirmation of their daughter's death - but within 24 hours of turning on the TV on 26 December 2004, they knew she had lost her life.

"I personally knew she'd gone that same day because I know she would have moved heaven and earth to tell me she was alright," Mrs Garlick said.

Despite the tragedy, the parents count themselves among the luckier ones. They were able to retrace their 31-year-old daughter's footsteps after an undeveloped camera film belonging to her was discovered and sent back to them.

"As bad as it was for us, I thought there were people much worse off," the mother, now 84, added.

The roll of film containing Deborah's last pictures was returned to the family home near Ledbury, Herefordshire, by Thai authorities about a year after her death.

Mr Garlick, now 91, remembers his surprise when the holiday photos came out perfectly.

"I went and saw the chemist [where the film was developed] and said 'I've got a very special job for you'," he recalled.

"It might have been affected by the water or anything but they [the photos] all came out. It was fantastic and that was an unbelievable lift."

Mrs Garlick decided to go to Thailand in 2005, on the first anniversary of her daughter's death.

The couple used the images to retrace Deborah's final footsteps and raised money for six fishing boats for those who had lost their livelihoods.

One of them has Deborah's name inscribed on it.

As an only child, Deborah had been very close to her parents and spoke to them most days.

She had called them on Christmas Day ahead of a day trip to the Phi Phi islands.

It would be the last time they would ever hear from her.

The tsunami, triggered by one of the biggest earthquakes ever recorded, led to a natural disaster on a massive scale.

It is believed Deborah and her boyfriend Sam McCarthy were having breakfast on the beach at their resort when the waves struck.

Deborah's parents' worst nightmare was finally confirmed in April 2005 when her body was recovered and identified.

In the aftermath of the disaster, the Foreign Office needed support identifying British people who had died.

Det Insp David Llewellin, from West Mercia Police, went out to Thailand to run the operation, later receiving a commendation for his efforts.

The 62-year-old from Monkland, Herefordshire, arrived to find the major incident room in Phuket in "disarray".

He recalled 10,000 bodies in varying states, with his team tasked with finding and identifying about 150 UK citizens among them.

They began by looking at where a person had been staying, the beach they were recovered from and where they were in the mortuary.

They then checked the body to make sure they were the right sex, age and size, before checking for scars, tattoos and jewellery.

Final confirmation came from taking fingerprints, DNA and checking their teeth.

Mr Llewellin said the experience had left him with PTSD and he had lived with flashbacks in the years afterwards.

"You'd be walking on Hereford high street and see people walking about, which were in fact people you'd seen on the database of the dead or actually in the mortuaries," he said.

Now retired, Mr Llewellin said he was proud of the part he had played in helping families including the Garlicks recover their loved ones.

On the 20th anniversary of the tsunami, the pain of losing Deborah still weighs heavily on her parents - and Christmas has never been the same.

"There's just a big void in your life," Mrs Garlick added.

"Always an empty seat at the table on special occasions. I just can't get used to losing her, no matter how hard I try.

"She was everything you could wish for in a daughter because she was so kind and considerate."

Every Boxing Day, the husband and wife visit Deborah's grave and light a candle at the local church in Herefordshire.

Mr Garlick, focuses on happier times, describing his daughter as a "bundle of fun".

"We had the best of her and you can't take this away."

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