Boxing Day Tsunami: An elephant took me to safety

A woman who was able to survive the Boxing Day tsunami in Thailand 20 years ago unharmed, aged eight, because of an elephant said “it makes you grateful for everything that’s happened to you”.

On 26 December 2004, Amber Owen, 28, from Milton Keynes, was on holiday in Phuket when a magnitude-9.1 earthquake struck under the sea in northern Indonesia.

It claimed the lives of 230,000 people, but she taken to safety by elephant, Ningnong who she was riding at the time the first wave hit.

Miss Owen’s story inspired the children’s author Michael Morpurgo to write a book, called Running Wild, that was adapted into a theatrical play.

The 28-year-old, who now lives in Northampton, said at the time she “didn’t fully understand what was going on”.

Amber Mason, standing outside, looking straight at the camera. She has long hair, that is tied back at the front, and down. She is smiling, and there are buildings behind her. — Amber works in sales for a market research company [Amber Mason]

She said she was staying at a hotel in Phuket, with her mother and stepfather, over the festive season.

Early on Boxing Day, she was in the bathroom with her mother Samantha Miles, when “the room started shaking, none of us had any idea what was going on, things just wobbled, nothing too drastic, so we didn’t think anything of it and went for breakfast”.

Most days she went to the children’s club, which had resident elephants Ningnong and Yumyum, and on that morning she rode on Ningnong’s back down to the beach.

A large amount of people walking through debris along the shoreline of Pathong beach of Phuket island, southern Thailand, on 27 December 2004, a day after a tidal wave devastated the coastline. There are items discarded on the beach, including foliage. — A series of waves triggered by an earthquake devastated parts of Thailand, including Puket [Getty Images]

She noticed that the water had gone “really far back” leaving bumpy sand and fish.

“I don’t know what happened, but there was a sound or something and all the animals on the beach started running off.

“I was still with the elephant handler and all of a sudden the water started to come in, the elephant just pulled away, ran through the water and I was taken to the concrete stage, at the hotel.

“I could tell the animals knew what was going on.”

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She said as the hotel had a large number of lagoons around it, most of the water filtered into them, so it was not as badly affected as other areas.

After several days of trying to get flights, the family flew home on New Years Eve, 31 December.

Amber (right) standing next to a puppet elephant, with stage lights behind her. An actor is standing to the left holding two sticks, to move the elephant, that is a large prop. The elephant is brown, with a large trunk, and she is wearing all brown, with hat on. Amber has on a boat, over a white top and dark trousers. She has long blond hair. — Amber (right) was able to see Running Wild when it was made into a stage show [Amber Owen]

Her story was covered by the press, and “it has always followed me around”, she said.

“It was nice to read out of all the horrible reads,” she added.

She said Morpurgo, the author of War Horse, was inspired by her story to write Running Wild, and she got to meet him, and the cast of the play, which was amazing.

“It’s been part of my journey in life, it makes you really grateful for everything that’s happened to you,” she said.

“Things happen for a reason, and this was my reason – You’ve just got to live life to the full.

“It shows elephants instincts and promotes them as an animal.”

Amber Mason, standing next to an elephant, by a hotel pool, wearing a colurful bikini, with pink bottoms, with another girl, with wet hair, and a blue bikini, with her back to the camera. — Amber said two elephants lived at the hotel and she would regularly feed them bananas [Amber Owen]

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