Subsequent Technology Must Know About 2004 Tsunami, Survivor Says (Unique)

• Soffie Modin, who was trapped for hours inside a house after being swept away by the 2004 tsunami, says youthful generations do not know a lot concerning the historic catastrophe
• “Perhaps it is laborious [for them] to grasp that it wasn’t really easy,” she tells PEOPLE
• Within the aftermath of the tragedy, Modin says she was wrapped with wire round her physique and pinned by planks for hours earlier than she was lastly rescued

Soffie Modin cannot overlook the horrors she endured after she survived the Dec. 26, 2004, tsunami however says fewer younger folks know concerning the world-changing catastrophe.

“Perhaps it is laborious [for the younger generation] to grasp that it wasn’t really easy,” she tells PEOPLE on this week’s subject.

Modin, 45, was on trip on Phi Phi Islands in Thailand along with her then-fiancé Magnus, his brother and one other buddy when the group was swept away by the tsunami.

“We solely heard a sound, like a extremely loud sound,” she explains. “No folks screaming, nothing like that, similar to a prepare was coming.”

Modin, who’s featured in Nationwide Geographic’s Tsunami: Race In opposition to Time (streaming now on Disney+ and Hulu), says the group was finally cut up up amid the chaos. She describes “tumbling round and never with the ability to breathe,” likening it to being inside a washer.

Over the following a number of hours, Modin was alone inside a home, face down on her abdomen with wire wrapped round her physique and pinned by planks.

“I had nerve harm in my leg as a result of it was like an enormous woody factor was pressuring into my abdomen,” she provides. “So down there at that second, I assumed I might lose my leg completely.”

For extra on life 20 years after the 2004 tsunami, choose up the newest subject of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday, or subscribe right here.

The Swedish native additionally remembers listening to folks crying out for assist. She realized, “They don’t seem to be getting any assist … They’re dying round me.”

Finally, Modin was rescued and reunited with Magnus — however his brother was killed. It took her eight months within the hospital and residential care to recuperate. However she finally realized she wanted to embrace her “second likelihood” in life — “grateful to be alive.”

Whereas Modin and Magnus are not married, the 2 proceed to communicate with the tsunami being the “one factor” they will nonetheless share. She additionally finds it has develop into “form of therapeutic” to speak about.

With over 500 Swedes killed by the tsunami — among the many worst disasters the nation ever endured — the mom of two, who has been remarried for 15 years, says “Everyone is aware of somebody who’s related to the tsunami or is aware of somebody who was there.”

However she determined to revisit the ordeal as a result of there is a youthful era that does not know a lot concerning the terror that unfolded that day. “It is slightly bit good to only carry that lid once more,” she provides.