Lessons save lives: the story of Tilly Smith

Spread The Viralist



Tilly Smith, an eleven-year-old schoolgirl was on holiday in Thailand with her family when the tsunami hit in December 2004. She recognized the signs of the receding sea and warned her parents of the impending tsunami, which led to hotel guests being rapidly cleared from the beach and saved the life of dozens of people. Tilly’s story highlights the critical importance of basic education in preventing the tragic impacts of natural disasters.

*Video captions kindly provided by California State Parks http://www.parks.ca.gov/tsunamis

source

Recommended For You

23 Comments

  1. The confidence she had, to trust her knowledge and not be swayed by her mothers doubt and her own desire for a disaster not to be imminent, is nothing short of inspiring. I imagine most children would not be that confident, and would just rely on their intuition that things will be fine instead of relying on actual facts. Even for adults it is very tempting to simply submit to denial rather than admit the possibility that their intuition is wrong and things are about to go sideways very badly.

  2. Tilly: There's gonna be a tsunami!!!
    Mum: No there's not…
    Sister: I'm going back to the hotel, I'm scared.
    Dad: Me too.
    Tilly: Me too.
    Mum: Oh, okay then I'll go I guess.

  3. i read about tilly smith in my book in english book lesson 3 I'm in 8 class
    i always think that i want to become a girl like tilly i just want to help people
    in my dad's selery i give 10 thosends to beggers because my father's selery is 50 thaosends so i help as i can as i afford
    guys help to the people who are in trouble and starvation if you help them then god will help you in every trouble of your life
    just help someone you will feel happy ☺☺

Comments are closed.