Saved from the tsunami

Nine-year-old Yusi screamed in pain. Once in a while she would ask for a drink of water. The little girl survived the tsunami after floating for two days in a river with a broken sternum.

The girl survived after eventually being washed ashore on the slopes of a hill, two kilometers away from her home in Cinamprung, in the Lomna district of Aceh Jaya regency.

Her uncle, Kasman, earlier suspected that Yusi, along with her parents and two siblings, died in the disaster. But three days after the fateful event he heard that Yusi was alive and under treatment.

"When I heard that she was alive, I went immediately to get her. Since then her condition improved and she can now walk, but over the last three days her condition has deteriorated. She keeps screaming in pain every time she breathes, eats or drinks, so we took her to a community health center," Kasman said.

But her condition worsened, and she had to be evacuated to a military hospital in Banda Aceh.

The magnitude of the disaster eludes her. But she is haunted by what happened to her.

Kasman said that from the moment that Yusi wakes up, she immediately starts talking about her terrible experience when the tsunami hit her house.

"Even when she's asleep, she will talk about what happened. She said that at the time of the disaster she and her seven friends were playing on the street. When the waves came, they were separated. She was dragged by the current to the river."

Yusi is now being taken care of by Kasman and his wife, Saudah. Some people had wanted to adopt her but Kasman could not let her go since she was the only child of Amru Nadi and Nurin, his wife's relatives. (JP/Andi Hajramurni)