MY GR8 ESCAPE

A WOMAN caught in the midst of the tsunami disaster has spoken of how text messages with her best friend back in Wyre Forest helped her cope during her terrifying ordeal.

Julie Kendrick, of Cookley, had been on holiday in Thailand, with friend, Theresa Findlay, when the devastating seismic sea wave hit South East Asia, wreaking death and destruction.

Throughout Mrs Kendrick's terrifying ordeal in Patong, Phuket, the 43-year-old was texting best pal, Carrol Reed, in Cookley, for news and advice.

Mrs Kendrick said: "I knew Carrol would be able to look on the internet and keep me informed."

Mrs Reed had been the first to tell her about the earthquake and wave and the scale of the calamity. She had also advised her to get as high up in the hills as she could.

Mrs Reed said: "I woke up on Boxing Day and saw it on the news at 7am. It was 8.13am before I got the message she was OK. It was horrendous waiting for that message."

Speaking from Mrs Reed's home in The Crescent, Cookley, after arriving home on Thursday, shaken but unhurt, Mrs Kendrick told of her "sheer disbelief and bewilderment" as she watched the sea "come off the beach".

She had been asleep in her first floor room at her beachfront guest house when she heard a "horrendous roar", at about 8am Thai time, and the room started shaking.

Mrs Kendrick said: "The sea had come off the beach and risen about 15 ft up to our first floor balcony. There was water all round us - it was like being on a boat. "

Perched on the balcony was the guesthouse owner's son, Mrs Kendrick said, washed up from the ground floor.

She added: "We could not get our head around what was happening and quickly put clothes on, thinking we would go downstairs, but the water was up two flights of stairs and on to our landing."

Mrs Kendrick, who had travelled to Thailand on December 5, described how the sheer force of the water had swept people from other hotels behind their guest house and into their building.

"Nobody knew what to do. We wondered about going on the roof but there was a rumour another bigger wave was coming and it would sweep us off."

Mother-of-two Mrs Kendrick described how the sea came in six times and then went right out again.

"The trouble was we never knew how high it would be the next time - that was the real fear factor."

When they decided to make a run for it the sea started coming in again.

"It came in up to my knees. I was clambering over debris, cars, concrete. I was terrified.

"Eventually, we went to a bigger hotel and there were about 200 people there and that made us feel safer," Mrs Kendrick said.

It was from there Mrs Kendrick had been able to text Mrs Reed and also her husband, Dave Kendrick, and her Cookley sisters Marie and Jackie.

"A lot of people were badly hurt and crying in pain and there was blood everywhere."

After some time an Australian who had taken charge said everyone should head for higher ground, Mrs Kendrick said.

"There was a mass exodus. Cars, motor bikes, trucks and lots and lots of Thai people were all heading for the hills.

Wearing just sarongs and swimwear, Mrs Kendrick and her friend walked for hours in the sweltering heat.

"Carrol had told us to get as high as we could. We were so frightened of the sea we just wanted to get higher and higher.

It was not until 7am the following morning that the two friends made their way back down into the town.

"The devastation was unbelievable. Yet all the time the Thai people kept saying how sorry they were. They were so kind - even those who had lost family members."

Mrs Kendrick, who lives mainly in Menorca, then heard about a British Consulate centre in Phuket Town and from there, flights were arranged to Bangkok for her and Mrs Findlay, who lives in London, and then on to Heathrow.

"It all seems surreal and unreal now. I am extremely lucky," she said.