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'Surviving the Boxing Day tsunami gave me a second chance'

Ani Naqvi Ani Naqvi (left) and a friend smile while lying in a hammock, with sunlight and tropical greenery in the background.Ani Naqvi
Ani Naqvi (left) was visiting the coastal town of Arugam Bay when the tsunami struck

Ani Naqvi remembers the Boxing Day tsunami 20 years ago not just as the day when she nearly lost her life but one that gave her new purpose.

She had just turned 33 and was visiting a friend in the Sri Lankan surfing village of Arugam Bay on 26 December 2004 when one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded struck off the coast of Indonesia, triggering one of the worst natural disasters in a century around the Indian Ocean.

Describing the moment the tsunami hit, Ms Naqvi, who lives in Southfields, south-west London, said: "The door to my hut flung open so the water started to come in from all sides... Within like milliseconds I was underwater and drowning and fighting for my life.

"I was literally rolling around like a grain of rice in a washing machine."

As her hut "disintegrated" around her, Ms Naqvi said she saw shards of light and realised she was at the bottom of the wreckage as she was swept inland.

She then became trapped under a falling building, adding: "That was the second time I thought I was going to die."

Ani Naqvi A small thatched-roof wooden hut with woven walls and a wooden door sits on sandy ground, surrounded by tropical plants and trees.Ani Naqvi
Ms Naqvi said the hut she was in "disintegrated" when the water hit

Eventually she was able to cling to a tree before being rescued and taken to safety.

"There was such abject terror and shock," she said. "I remember the scene, everyone running, then everyone disappearing under the glassiness of the water - I get goose bumps even talking about that now, 20 years later."

About 228,000 people were killed in the tsunami and earthquake across 14 countries, including 30,000 in Sri Lanka alone.

Ms Naqvi was eventually airlifted to Colombo, the Sri Lankan capital, and returned to London on New Year's Eve.

Coming home, she said, was deeply disorienting.

Ani Naqvi is seen from shoulders up with long brown hair wearing a green dress looks directly at the camera, seated in a brightly lit space.
Ani Naqvi says the "tsunami was the catalyst for me finding my purpose"

"It was so bizarre because everything was neat and tidy and in its right place," she said.

"It was this cognitive dissonance of coming from this scene of death and destruction, Armageddon, and now I'm back in this nice orderly place."

Getty Images Debris and shattered structures litter the sandy coastline of Arugam Bay, with uprooted palm trees and remnants of buildings reflecting the devastation caused by the 2004 tsunami.Getty Images
The surfing town of Arugam Bay was left devastated by the tsunami

Ms Naqvi said she suffered post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result of the ordeal.

Haunted by flashbacks, nightmares, and extreme sensitivity to sound, she sought therapy to help her process the trauma.

"The tsunami was the catalyst for me finding my purpose, that second chance I got," she said.

The 53-year-old has now written a memoir about her experiences of the tsunami and life afterwards, including being diagnosed with stage four cancer, and hopes it will inspire others.

She added: "That sense of responsibility when you've survived something that others haven't is real and stays with you.

"I will be remembering them this year and honouring them with the work that I do."

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