Emily BotsfordTEENAGER Emily Botsford has spoken of her ordeal as she tried to prevent herself and her nine-year-old sister Hannah from being swept away in the tsunami in Thailand.

The 14-year-old, who is in Elmhurst House at Marlborough College, flew to Phuket with her parents Chris and Callie, sister Hannah, and brother Max, eight, on Christmas Day.

The family lives in Hong Kong and were looking forward to some sunshine in Thailand before the children returned to their schools.

But like thousands of other tourists their vacation in paradise turned into a holiday from hell when the tsunami swept across the Indian Ocean.

Early on Boxing Day the children rushed out to play in the sea. Emily, Hannah and a friend Annie, 13, were playing on the beach while Max and his friends played on some rocks on higher ground.

The girls frolicked in the sea but were plagued by sea lice and decided to walk along the beach instead.

Emily said they gave no thought to the fact that the sea was receding.

"Instead of noting how odd it was that the tide was going out so far that we could barely see the sea, we decided to save the fish that were gasping for breath on the beach," she said.

"When we were at the other end of the beach from all of our clothes the tides suddenly changed.

"Water rushed back towards the beach, hitting a dip in the sand and crashing six metres into the air. We thought this was pretty amazing."

Emily said that although she was well travelled she had never seen a tide coming in so fast and violently.

"By the time the water reached us it was a shock to feel its immense power. By the time we reached the deck chairs the water was up to our waists and rising.

"People taken by surprise while swimming were now drowning and others were attempting to rescue them.

"When the water was being pulled back out to sea again we scrambled up to the deck chairs which were being carried away.

"We grabbed onto an umbrella pole and held on for our lives as the water surged past."

To her horror she realised the umbrella pole she was hanging onto with one arm while holding Hannah with the other was being torn out of the sand. Quick thinking Emily probed with her toes and pressed the sand against the pole to help keep it in place.

"I dug my feet into the sand while Annie swung round giving me a blow on the leg as I grabbed hold of Hannah."

Emily said there was no doubt that the umbrella pole prevented them from being swept out to sea.

The girls were about to start searching for their clothes when they heard their fathers shouting at them to run.

Emily said: "We had gone about ten yards and turning towards the sea we saw the water surging towards us even faster then before."

The water was ankle deep when the three girls reached a concrete sea wall which they scrambled up into the arms of their mothers.

Their fathers and boys including Emily's bother Max had also managed to make it to higher land and safety.

"The beach we had been on was probably the least affected but we are still very lucky to be alive," said Emily, who returned to Marlborough College at the start of term last week.

l A group of musicians and song writers from the Marlborough and Pewsey areas are putting on a concert to raise funds for the tsunami appeal.

It will be taking place in St Peter's Church in Marlborough on January 21, at 8pm. Admission will be £3.

Wilcot-based songwriter Alasdair Bouch is organising the concert with help from Andrew Bumphrey, the Marlborough architect who regularly promotes folk-roots concerts in the town.

Mr Bouch said all of the performers jumped at the chance of supporting the appeal. "I did not have to ask anybody twice," said the songwriter who will be singing some of his own work.

Other local musicians taking part will be folk rock band Orum and songwriter/singer/guitarist Nathan.

Aid net spreads wider

The Wiltshire Mercy Appeal has been so overwhelmed with donations that it is considering sending some of its aid to other crisis points.

The appeal has been asked by the Sri Lankan embassy not to send any more bottled water because it has purification tablets.

Instead, supplies may be switched to children's charities in Angola and Cumbria following recent floods.

Meanwhile, Marlborough Mayor Graham Francis has thanked the hundreds of people who supported the tsunami auction in the town hall on Friday, raising at least £9,000.

Those who bought lots have until January 21 to collect them from the town council offices and to pay.

In aid of the tsunami appeal, Great Bedwyn School pupils have taken part in an art project and their work will on sale in Popperwell's Delicatessen in Hungerford on Tuesday from 6pm to 9pm, and on Wednesday and Thursday.

Pop group Iron the Cat is hoping to raise £25,000 from a concert on February 5 featuring a mystery star.