María Belón (born May 12, 1966) is a Spanish physician and motivational speaker, known for surviving the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami when she was on vacation in Thailand with her husband Enrique (Quique) Álvarez and three sons Lucas, Simón and Tomás. I started to cry and then I thought, ‘Why are you crying when there is no one to comfort you?’”. But then the splashing and laughter were drowned out by a deafening roar and Maria watched in horror as a towering wave pushed in from the sea and ripped through the hotel. Ligaments protect the bones and nerves of the spinal cord. In an instant, she found herself separated from Lucas, husband Quique and younger sons Tomas, eight, and five-year-old Simon. He dragged me through the mud for a long time until he was sure I was in good hands.”. Just go with it, however, and you’ll enjoy an intensely emotional disaster movie. Because it occurred in the Christmas season and hit many resort area beaches its death toll of almost 250,000 was indiscriminate, taking not only South Asians but many visiting vacationers. My whole life is extra time.”. The unprecedented move follows days of confusion regarding the process. As the waves recede, the family’s horrifying situation is realistically captured by Watts and McGregor, who are better than they’ve been in a long time. Woman catches waiter stealing money from party with iPhone pic- can YOU spot it? She was petrified, alone and convinced she was dying – but in a miracle that inspired The Impossible, the mum and her family survived, Our free email newsletter sends you the biggest headlines from news, sport and showbiz. Recalling the moment the tsunami struck, Maria, a doctor, says: “The wave is big on the cinema screen but in real life it was so much more. Find contact's direct phone number, email address, work history, and more. You can unsubscribe at any time. His search took several days, but the family were eventually reunited. You could feel them trembling and breaking. I didn’t think it was the sea. “We were terribly lucky in a good and a bad way,” Maria says. When I was up the tree, bleeding very heavily with very deep wounds, I could feel the dying process. Scenes capturing the pair in an overstretched, blood-marked hospital are profoundly moving, while a sequence where Henry phones home will choke you up. Maria let go of her tree and fought her way through the water to reach her son’s side. Aside from Clint Eastwood’s underpowered Hereafter, the legacy of 2004’s Boxing Day tsunami has yet to get the film it deserves... until now. Trauma can lead to injury of the ligaments and tendons and healing is slow due to their limited blood supply. A sensory overload of emotion and spectacle, The Impossible is a disaster movie much, much better than the usual overblown fare pumped out by Hollywood. "We stayed in touch with the man my husband travelled with while he looked for us. Maria was horrifically wounded as she was dragged under water by the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami of Boxing Day 2004. The family's reunion took place two days later, in the hospital where Belón was being treated for severe injuries to her thigh and chest, per the BBC. Maria says they rarely talked about the tsunami when they were back in Spain – and when they did, people didn’t believe they had experienced it. She says: “What if that child was Simon or Tomas? I swam across the current and grabbed him. Woman in hysterics after her at-home hair dye fail leaves her looking like 'Barney the Dinosaur', Sexpert reveals how long sex should really last - and the answer may shock you, Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO). Think again. Still convinced his wife and Lucas were dead, Quique nevertheless teamed up with another grieving husband and decided to search. It felt like the Earth was coming apart but everything looked perfect. But there are still big unanswered questions around travel, vaccine passports, social distancing, masks, working from home and big events. As a result of that day, the two forged a connection. I thought it was the end for all of us. Kent-born Naomi Watts plays Maria and Ewan McGregor is her husband. “I went through a lot of very difficult moments under the water – shock, and fear about the boys. Magnetic resonance imaging (to assess injury to soft tissue, spinal cord, or ligaments) and/or computed tomography (to assess injury to bone) is the best way to identify the injury. To see all content on The Sun, please use the Site Map. She kept going in and out of consciousness.”. "I screamed to my husband and to the kids. Lucas — who is now 18 and studying medicine at University College, London — recalls: “I had never seen anything of the scale of that wave. The Impossible is a 2012disasterdrama film. The family’s Far Eastern holiday over Christmas 2004 had ended in disaster — caught up in the Boxing Day tsunami which killed around 240,000 people in 14 countries. Amazingly, Maria says the trip “wasn’t difficult at all”. Lucas! "None of us is scared of the sea – it wasn’t the sea’s fault. Complete spinal cord injuries do not necessarily sever the spinal cord, either. It was important that I showed my son the right way to behave, particularly as I was dying. Maria had deep gashes to her chest and a terrible wound on her right thigh. For there was no question in my mind that my father and brothers were dead.”. The story of a tourist family in Thailand caught in the destruction and chaotic aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. But I really started to see Mum might be dying. We held on to a tree trunk. But his father was alive and was looking for them. A miracle after the catastrophe. After Maria’s operation, the overworked staff misidentified her and Lucas returned to his mother’s bedside to find she had vanished. Lucas then managed to carry both Daniel and his mother to safety, as by then Maria was far too weak to fend for herself. Injuries can range from relatively mild ligament and muscle strains, to fractures and dislocations of the bony vertebrae, to debilitating spinal cord damage. When the waters sank, Quique took the children to the safety of the roof of their hotel, the Orchard Resort in Phuket. He then spotted a huge tree which he thought they could climb to safety, but as they waded towards it, they heard a child crying. Something went wrong, please try again later. Spinal Cord Injury Accidents leave victims in a troublesome situation, they are in pain and commonly without a vehicle or the ability to work following the Spinal Cord Injury Accident. “I remember being pushed against walls. Just this year, 3-4% of the entire US population will be temporarily disabled due to lower back pain. You forget about yourself completely. February 24: Pluto pushes you to keep secrets you know you need to share, Traveller mum throws daughter, 10, a party so she can meet a husband, I'm 56 and having the best sex of my life with a man 20 years younger, Teen shares how he turned £200 into £200k in a year on the stock market, ©News Group Newspapers Limited in England No. “I was facing the sea and saw a huge black wall. The vomit is the debris and organic matter that Belton swallowed during her underwater ordeal (“Actually just a piece of string and blackberry jam on-set,” Watts says). Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts are Henry and Maria who, with their three sons, journey to Thailand for a Christmas getaway. A spinal cord injury can cause long-term complications, including limited mobility. “I was under the water for a long, long time. The tsunami itself is terrifically realised with Mother Nature’s fury portrayed in all its terrifying, indiscriminate fury. 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. He says: “Then I heard Tomas’s voice. Drugs and medications may be used for the primary injury and / or to treat the secondary conditions. It is important to keep the floor clear of hazards that could lead to a fall. Though he was only five and had only just learned to swim, he had also managed to escape up a tree. “I was not in physical pain but the drowning sensation was like being in a spin dryer. “I remember my mother screaming my name. Lucas says: “I spoke to a Swedish boy at the hospital. The pair were reunited and perched on the branch of another tree for half an hour. Following a complete tear of the spinal cord, there is little chance of recovery of any sensory or motor function below the level of the injury. But through the agony and confusion she saw something that gladdened her heart. As the wave hurtled on, Maria and Lucas were battered along together, only to be separated again by the undertow. Treatment involves immobilization of the spine, drugs to relieve symptoms, sometimes surgery, and usually rehabilitation . “Some of the walls did not collapse — that’s why people died. Multi-specialty care team. After the tsunami struck, Quique had lost the youngest sons who had been in his arms until the extreme force of the wave sent him crashing into a column on the ground floor of the hotel. Lucas! Meanwhile, as the raging water swept Maria along, she was convinced her whole family had been killed. She was petrified, alone and convinced she was dying – but in a miracle that has inspired new film The Impossible, the mum and her family survived. BASKING in the hot Thai sunshine, Maria Alvarez smiled as her three sons played with their dad in the hotel pool. People who didn’t know me spent hours looking for my family. “I don’t know exactly what happened next. Everyone else was dead. Tomas, who is also studying in Britain, has certainly moved on – he wants to be a beach life guard. “Everyone in the family had one person they connected with in the whole thing. Post-traumatic stress is difficult to move on from. It felt really unfair. Learn more here. “Carrying this luck for life is difficult. Lucas, who is now 18 and studying medicine at University College London, is played by rising British actor Tom Holland, 16. They're so busy in here. It took a year to put together the 10-minute sequence. Spinal cord injury (SCI) treatment is complex. It was then that Lucas noticed Maria’s leg had been torn open and she had deep gashes to her chest. Mama! Through her struggle she incurs horrific gut busting injuries that leave the cinema gasping and wincing at the very thought. “For my mother it was Daniel. It seemed like the perfect Christmas break for the Spanish family of five. The Impossible was inspired by the experiences of María Belón, who survived the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake with her husband Enrique and three kids (Lucas, Simón and Tomás). You could feel them trembling and breaking, feeling them as they gave way, one after another. THE IMPOSSIBLE (2012) The 2004 tsunami was one of the deadliest natural disasters on record. She says: “When I saw him I thought how stupid I had been. I would love to know how Daniel has grown up.”, 240,000 killed by tsunami including 149 Brits. "It was so hard to work out what things were because nothing looked normal.”. 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Cert 12A, Running time 114mins. The cervical spine ligaments in the neck are especially prone to injury because the neck is the only exposed portion of the entire spinal … Renter baffled by £7 gadget in new flat before realising its ‘awesome’ cleaning up purpose - so do YOU know what it is? The Impossible Photos. The dad wept, sure the others were drowned. It was good to close the whole process. Moments before the tsunami struck, Maria was on a lounger at the Orchid Resort Hotel in Thailand while her boys – Lucas, 10, Tomas, eight, and Simon, five … For other inquiries, Contact Us. She had infections from everything she had swallowed, and from her wounds.”. We meet the family behind tsunami movie The Impossible. The Impossible is now showing in cinemas nationwide. Maria: ... Maria:: Lucas, look at this place. Maria was not out of the woods – even after leaving Thailand she spent 14 months in hospitals in Singapore and their homeland Spain – but the family’s astonishing survival was a rare example of good luck. The mum watched in horror as husband Quique Alvarez and their two youngest boys were submerged by the roaring mass of dark water that carried with it cars and the chalet the family had been staying in. When he returns to Maria's bed she is not there, and due to a mix-up, the hospital staff believes she has died and take Lucas to a tent where other children without families are being held; a phone call can be made, but Lucas does not remember the number of his grandpa. Lucas takes names from patients and searches for their relatives. Finally the waters calmed and they found themselves waist deep in a swamp. She says: Earlier this month, Lucas was featured in a local Milwaukee TV news report that highlights his incredible recovery since participating in the Asterias trial shortly after his accident. Simon!’”, The eight-year-old was perched on top of a tree, about 200 yards away. Then began the next stage of Lucas’s ordeal. For the movie, María reportedly worked directly with screenwriter Sergio G. Sánchez to ensure the storyline's authenticity. But you have to move on.”. A belief to reunion with your beloved ones. Quique swam over and recalls: “We both felt we were the only two who had made it.”. “The two youngest boys were in the swimming pool with my husband. A huge natural disaster hits the hotel and Lucas and Maria reunite, but they believe that the other family members are dead. While the men came out mostly unscathed physically, it was Belón who suffered the most injuries. Henry Bennett, his wife Maria, and their three sons Lucas, Thomas, and Simon go on a Christmas holiday in 2004 toKhao Lak,Thailand. A. Bayona and written by Sergio G. Sánchez.It is based on the experience of María Belón and her family in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.It features an international cast including Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor and Tom Holland.. Maria and Lucas found the little boy they had heard — a Swedish toddler called Daniel — trapped beneath the flotsam. lucas@stryker.com www.stryker.com Physio-Control Operations, a part of Stryker 11811 Willows Road NE PO Box 97006 98052 Redmond, WA, US Tel: 800 442 1142 or 425 867 4000 lucas@stryker.com www.strykeremergencycare.com It's time for back pain treatments to target the real underlying causes. Mama! "After that I heard him screaming for me so I went to get him. They can occur because of bruising or damage from swelling and inflammation. As they emerge from the water Maria’s injuries graphically appear on screen and you’re faced with reality of the situation. "You just think about saving them. But Maria was convinced the rest of the family could not have been so lucky. “I was always afraid of things. The wave smashed her against a plate glass window which exploded behind her and she was swept through the hotel. I was looking around thinking maybe this is just in my mind. She spent four months in a Singapore hospital … He says: “I thought, ‘That’s it, I’m not going to make it.’ But I needed to try. Their incredible survival was turned into the film after the director, Juan Antonio Bayona, heard her on radio. He had just got out of the pool to fetch the ball we had bought them on Christmas Day. Seconds later, Maria and her terrified husband and three sons were swept away by a ferocious 30ft wall of water that devoured everything in its path. He got washed away but grabbed a tree and clung on for half an hour. The film is called The Impossible and is based on the account of Maria Belton, a survivor of the Boxing Day tsunami in 2004. The Sun website is regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), Our journalists strive for accuracy but on occasion we make mistakes. After hours traipsing through hospitals full of the wounded, the dying and the bereaved, Quique could hardly believe his eyes when he found his wife and Lucas. "I had really bad internal bleeding as well as the external wounds.”. Besides the primary injury, a cascade of secondary conditions may develop immediately after the injury or later. Over 80% of people will suffer from back pain at some point in their lives, and Americans spend $50 billion each year trying to get rid of it. I embrace life. He surfaced in the torrent, more than half a mile downstream from the hotel, and says: “The only thing I could see was water and the tops of the trees. It might as well have been the apocalypse. But it is hard because the man lost his two babies. (Un milagro después de la catástrofe. I was only ten — I had no idea what was going on. She says: “We also went to the hospital. Now their amazing tale of survival has inspired the film The Impossible, which opened in cinemas this week and stars Ewan McGregor, Naomi Watts and teen newcomer Tom Holland as ten-year-old Lucas Alvarez. It was the first time that I properly panicked. I jumped into the swimming pool — I don’t know why. Keep a clean home. I was not in physical pain but the drowning sensation was like being in a spin-dryer. Spinal fractures are different than a broken arm or leg. And as part of the filming process, the family returned to the hotel which has been rebuilt after being flattened by the wave. The three were finally rescued by villagers who took them to hospital in the nearest town, Takua Pa. The tsunami was an incredible gift. Like Lucas and Maria, Quique doesn’t know how long he was underwater. I thought I would spend the rest of my life hugging Lucas again — that was my only purpose in life.”. Maria says: “About 15 metres away I could see a little head, and I thought ‘My goodness, I think it’s Lucas’. Then, many agonising minutes later, he heard Tomas’ voice shouting: “Papa! The studio behind Mission Impossible 6 has confirmed that production of the film has been put on hiatus while Tom Cruise recovers from a broken … Slips and falls happen frequently in the home. As the relief effort gets underway, Maria and her eldest, Lucas (an impressive Tom Holland), struggle to survive while attempting to discover the fate of Henry and the twins. She says: “I thought life was not worth living if I was alone.” And then she surfaced, in the middle of the torrent. You can accuse the film of having a thin storyline, and later episodes where the family keep missing one another despite being in the same spot are overdone, but it earns a whole lot of points for its realism and technical craft. “When I came to the surface I wrapped myself around a tree and clung on. While it’s based on the true story of a Spanish family, director Juan Antonio Bayona hasn’t been afraid to tweak the facts to maximise the drama. He had come to Thailand with both parents and four siblings and he was flying back with his mother.

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