Tsunami victim to marry Thai

2005-03-14 08:43

London - A 21-year-old British student has decided to abandon her career in London and return to Thailand to marry the Thai man who supported her throughout her ordeal after the tsunami, a British newspaper reported Sunday.

Naomi Bowman was seriously injured after having been swept away by the giant waves from the December 26 tsunami on the Island of Koh Phi Phi.

The Oxford student told the Mail on Sunday she wants to marry Theep, 30, a climbing guide, who she met shortly before the catastrophe.

Theep had found Bowman in hospital and did not leave her side during several days during which the medical staff were overrun by the number of wounded.

"Because of the lack of medical staff he fed me, dressed my wounds, helped me to walk and to move again, and even changed my bed pans," said Bowman, who still has difficulty walking normally.

"And at night when I couldn't sleep he lay by my side and comforted me."

Bowman, who had previously considered a career in London, now wants to open a restaurant on Koh Phi Phi and to help in the restoration of the island.

- AFP