Tilly Smith

Smith was educated at Danes Hill School, an independent school in the village of Oxshott in Surrey,[3] followed by Stowe School, a boarding independent school in the civil parish of Stowe in Buckinghamshire.

Smith learned about tsunamis in a geography lesson[4][5] two weeks before the tsunami from her teacher Andrew Kearney at Danes Hill School[6] in Oxshott, Surrey.[7][8] She recognised the signs and alerted her parents while walking on the beach. "The water was really, really frothy," Smith said. "It wasn't calm and it wasn't going in and then out. It was just coming in and in and in."[9]

Initially, not seeing any obvious sign of a large wave on the horizon, her parents didn't believe her assertion that a tsunami was coming, but Smith persisted, stating curtly: "I'm going. I'm definitely going. There is definitely going to be a tsunami".[10] Her father, Colin, sensing the urgency in his daughter's voice, heeded Tilly's warning. He managed to convince a security guard that a tsunami was inbound: "'Look, you probably think I'm absolutely bonkers, but my daughter's completely convinced there's gonna be a tsunami."[9][11]

Tilly Smith recounted that, by coincidence, an English-speaking Japanese man was nearby and heard her mention the Japanese word "tsunami", bolstering her claim by saying: "Yeah, there's been an earthquake in Sumatra; I think your daughter's right."[12] The beach was evacuated to the second storey of a nearby hotel before the 9-metre (30 ft) tsunami reached the shore,[13] with patrons narrowly avoiding the tsunami by seconds; Tilly's mother, one of the last to seek refuge, said: "I ran, and then I thought I was going to die."[14]

Ultimately, Mai Khao Beach was one of the few beaches on the island with no reported fatalities, with only a few minor injuries recorded.[9][15][16][17] Colin added, "It was later when we sort of went through what happened we thought how lucky we were, 'cause if she hadn't told us, we would have just kept on walking," he said. "I'm convinced we would have died, absolutely convinced."[9]

Smith's family declined requests to be interviewed by commercial and national broadcasters in the immediate aftermath, but Smith appeared at the United Nations in November 2005, where she met former President of The United States and the serving U.N. Special Envoy for Tsunami Relief, Bill Clinton,[1][18][19] and at the first anniversary in Phuket as part of a campaign to highlight the importance of education; she also appeared in an educational video for the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction.[20] Tilly and her parents later appeared in a segment of the American TV show 20/20.[21]

On 9 September 2005, Smith received the Thomas Gray Special Award of The Marine Society & Sea Cadets from Second Sea Lord, Vice-Admiral Sir James Burnell-Nugent.[6][8]

Minor planet 20002 Tillysmith has been named after her.[22] In the press, Smith earned the moniker Angel of the Beach.[9][23]

In December 2005, Smith was named "Child of the Year" by the French magazine Mon Quotidien (a magazine targeted to young readers).[1][24] At the official tsunami commemorations on the first anniversary of the tsunami held at Khao Lak, Thailand, on 26 December 2005, she was given the honour of reading a poem to thousands of spectators.[25]

"It wasn't devastation or death that won the day. It was humanity that triumphed, the shining victory of generosity, courage, love."

— from a poem by Naowarat Pongpaiboon[26]

Smith's story is incorporated into many teaching resources for children about earthquakes, tsunamis and how to stay safe.[1][24][25][27]

• News article from National Geographic
• Video interview by the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction