Tsunami survivor pledges to rebuild life
A survivor of the Asian tsunami disaster today told how he is rebuilding his life after his wife June was killed and his daughter seriously injured in the tragedy.
Viraj Abeyratne, from Kingswood in Surrey, has spent the past two months nursing his 11-year-old daughter Alexandra through lifethreatening brain surgery after she was saved from being swept away by her mother June.
The family were staying at a resort in Sri Lanka when the tsunami struck and Mrs Abeyratne pushed her through the bathroom window of their villa before she was washed away.
A piece of debris flew into Alexandra as she clung to a tree to save herself from the surging waters, and air bubblestrapped in her brain meant she has been in hospital since the tragedy and flew back home only last week.
Mr Abeyratne, 42, said today he has been unable to mourn his wife's death until Alexandra has fully recovered from her major surgery.
"After the surgery we stayed in Colombo until she was well enough to fly. When I broke the news about June, she was very upset, but she has taken it quite well."
This week Alexandra is staying with her godparents in Wolverhampton while her father finalises his wife's funeral arrangements.
"Next week I'm hoping Alexandra will be able to go back to school, " Mr Abeyratne, who is Sri Lankan and runs a fish export business, said. "I'm finding it very, very hard. She had all of her friends round on Sunday for a party. This week she has been much better than ever before. But it's early stages.
"It is her 12th birthday in a few months and I suspect that will be hard for her. But she has already decided with her friends to have a camping party in the garden."
The family was staying at the Yala Lodge Hotel on the south coast of Sri Lanka in December.
Mrs Abeyratne, the managing director of south London children's modelling agency Little Acorns, was pursuing her dream of opening an orphanage and was in the country to acquire land.
Mr Abeyratne had left his wife and daughter for the morning while he went inland to watch wildlife.
He did not realise the full extent of the disaster until he returned to find he had to swim to reach his villa.
He said: "I found Alexandra holding onto a tree. It took me three days to find my wife.
"It looked like she had survived the waves but had collapsed next to a bush where she died.
"I think she may have been able to get up and look for Alexandra before becoming exhausted." Mr Abeyratne is currently in negotiations to realise his wife's dream of building an orphanage.
He plans to build a hotel and an organic farm on the land to fund the orphanage which will be attached to an international school.
He added: "It was the last thing she wanted to do.
"Now it is very important for me to carry out my wife's last wish. I loved her very much."
