When Maria Belon (59 years old) and her husband, Enrique ‘Quique’ Alvarezthey chose the Southeast Asia as the perfect destination for family vacations, they did not imagine that this idyllic place could transform, in just an instant, into the most terrifying place on the planet. Nor did they suspect that that trip would mark a turning point in their lives, much less that their story of survival would move the world.
According to the criteria of
On the morning of December 26, 2004, after breakfast, the family had decided to spend some time at the hotel pool. María reclined on a lounge chair to read a novel by Carlos Ruiz Zafón while, at her side, her sons Lucas, Tomás and Simón, who at that time were 10, 7 and 5 years old, respectively, took a dip with their father in the water. Minutes before, the couple had been talking about their future work. “A conversation that at the time one believed to be very transcendental,” he would later comment. Suddenly, a thunderous, paralyzing and unreproducible sound flooded the scene…
“I heard screams and saw the animals running away scared. I perfectly remember seeing that black wall, as tall as a building, coming towards me. A monster. I didn’t understand what was happening, but I knew that it was death,” María says today, 20 years later, in an interview with La Nación.
At 7:58 (local time), an underwater earthquake measuring 9.1 on the Richter scale occurred in the Indian Ocean. It was the third largest earthquake in recorded history, behind the Valdivia earthquakes in Chile in 1960, with a magnitude of 9.5, and the Alaska earthquake in 1964, which reached a magnitude of 9.2. The earthquake caused giant waves, some reaching 24 meters high, the equivalent of a seven-story building. The waves took between 15 minutes and seven hours to reach the coasts of the countries that border that ocean. The tsunami arrived at the beach where María and her family were at 10:45 in the morning. 227,898 people died in the catastrophe, but María and her family managed to survive. Her story inspired, in 2012, the film The Impossible, which was directed by Juan Antonio Bayona and starred British actress Naomi Watts, who played María.
‘We control absolutely nothing’
“It’s milliseconds, but I felt a sense of disappointment because if that was death, why had no one told me about it? My absolute control scheme of life was broken, we control absolutely nothing, but we pretend that we do. I thought about my children, that I was not going to be able to say goodbye to them,” he begins by explaining.
It is surprising that, after 20 years, he still remembers in detail what he experienced that day.
One gradually loses memory of inconsequential things: don’t ask me what I ate yesterday because I don’t remember… But that day, that experience, is extremely vivid in me. It’s something that I don’t want to leave my memory.
Many, faced with a traumatic experience, prefer to simply forget. What do you think about that?
Every day that passes the memory is transformed and you add learnings to it, I keep saying to myself: “María, you were there and you came out, what do you have to do with this?” For this reason, every day is like a very nice anchor for me to say: “It is not worth giving up, ever, under any circumstances.” My look and memory there is one of pure gratitude, not for the experience, but for the learning.
Going back to that morning when that huge wave devours you, do you remember how long you were underwater?
One of the things that happens in an experience of this type is that time disappears, I don’t know. The doctors estimate that I must have been underwater for two to three minutes, but I don’t know. There were even moments when it felt like time stopped. At that moment the most animal and the most spiritual thing I had came together, connecting with love… The rational part left. It was a very crazy thing.
Her story inspired, in 2012, the film The Impossible, which was directed by Juan Antonio Bayona and starred British actress Naomi Watts, who played María.
Photo:
Share
Do you think that state was what saved her?
It’s like life itself, that is, you get what you get. I don’t know if life is random or, on the contrary, it has a perfect pedagogical plan for each of us and what has to happen to you happens to you, sooner or later, it happens. That’s why you don’t have to waste time or lose energy feeling afraid.
***
After the big wave devastated the hotel, the water immediately covered everything above the roof of the complex. The current hit and dragged Maria to the other side of the hotel. When she surfaced she realized that she was alone and did not know the fate of her family. I was shocked. In the midst of the chaos, a voice shouting “mom” brought her back to her senses and forced her not to give up to get to the hospital.
How was the reunion with Lucas, your eldest son?
I found it without knowing I found it, I was sure it was my imagination, I was in shock. The first thing I thought was: “It’s impossible that it’s Lucas, absolutely impossible,” but I immediately doubted: “What if it is? How are you going to stay here and do nothing?” So I decided to take a risk and go for it, I preferred to die in the search because the idea of surviving alone was very hard. For me, finding it was a miracle.
Did you understand what you were experiencing?
There the brain comes and goes all the time… The moment I saw Lucas I said to myself: “Maria, you have to make a choice, that is, you can’t be debating whether it’s true or not.” And that decision allowed me to live a very powerful experience: life is just this.
Regarding Lucas: he was their support and helped other families to reunite. I was only 10 years old…
Lucas was born old… He is the typical child who was very mature for his age, so my problem as a mother is that he was a boy.
After the reunion with their son, a group of locals were the ones who helped them get to the hospital.
Since it was impossible to think that someone would come to help you in that place, I like to think that they were like a couple of angels who came to look for us. It was wonderful. They were there looking for their families, but the man who took me to the hospital treated me as if I were his real daughter. He welcomed me with a lot of love and dedication. That changed my life, my veil was torn. I realized that what all religions have told us so much that we are all brothers was true. Every time I gave up he hit me and forced me to look at Lucas, it was so beautiful, a brutal life lesson: “Who are you to give up when there is someone who is asking for something from you.”
At the hospital she reunites with Enrique, her husband. Did you trust that you would see him again?
No. Quique maintained the hope all the time that he could find us, he had tremendous faith, but I did not. In order to move forward, I had to think that the others were not there because the pain was so much that I could not bear to imagine that they were alive and suffering.
How was the reunion?
As seen in the film, there is nothing invented or augmented. The only thing that was reduced is the time, because that happened two and a half days later, but in the film it had to be simplified into less time.
Speaking of the film, they say that you were the one who chose actress Naomi Watts to play you. What was the decision like?
Share
María Belón was born in Madrid (Spain) in 1965. She is a doctor by profession, but she helped with the script and filming of ‘The Impossible’.
Photo:
No. When we started to play with the idea of the film, when it was just a project, they asked me who my favorite actress was and I answered Naomi. After many years, when we had already written the script, they told me that she was the chosen actress, it made me very happy, but I didn’t decide. I never made a decision on issues that did not concern me. The only thing I was in charge of was taking care of the soul of the story, so that it truly reflected the tsunamis that we all go through in life.
María, you maintain a friendship with a survivor of the Andes tragedy, Eduardo Strauch, what unites you?
I think it’s having seen death or even, in the case of some of us, experiencing it and returning to this scenario again makes something different. In the case of Eduardo Strauch There is a harmony since we met, a common language. We can explain things that are difficult to talk about with people who have not been there or who call you “chalao” (lost your mind).
What are you currently doing?
I am a doctor and psychotherapist, but I never practiced. Today I dedicate myself to what life asks of me, I have absolute flexibility. I am adapting to the things that are happening.
Has surviving that day, whether by chance or destiny, become a blessing or a burden?
There is a time when you can torture yourself with that, but any of the people who are now reading this article and are still alive is as incredible as the fact that I am still alive, it is a miracle.
Speaking of fears, there is an expression that says that “he who burns himself with milk sees the cow and cries.” Was it difficult for you to get closer to the sea again?
It’s not the cow’s fault, it’s wonderful that she gives you milk. The sea has no responsibility, the sea has its energy, its movement, but the sea is wonderful. We returned a year later. The Government of Thailand invited all the victims to a ceremony, but due to medical reasons I could not travel. So we decided to do a ritual with my family on the same day and time that the ritual was there. After all, the sea is the same all over the world. I cannot conceive my life without seeing the sea, without hearing it.
Was it easy for all family members to cope with this experience?
It has cost each one their own. It takes a difficult process of overcoming trauma, but there is a lot of beauty in that process because it means reconnecting with yourself. Some family members have had a bad time, some are even still going through the trauma, but we always take it from “what else do I have to learn from this?” In life there are no options but to regret or learn.
***
Currently, María lives in Madrid with her husband. Their children left home years ago: “They all left home when they were 15, they flew away. They were very young, but they are children with a lot of hunger for life. They have to live their life. That’s why, when they said ‘I want to go’, I supported them and helped them look for scholarships to go around the world to study abroad. None of them live in Spain,” he says.
CONSTANZA BENGOCHEA
La Nación (Argentina) – GDA
