KHAO LAK, Thailand, Dec. 28 (UPI) -- Supermodel Petra Nemcova, who appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated's 2003 swimsuit issue, survived the Asian tsunami by clinging to palm tree.
Nemcova and her fashion photographer boyfriend Simon Atlee were spending Christmas in a beachfront bungalow at the Thai resort of Khao Lak when Sunday's tidal wave occurred, the New York Daily News reported Tuesday.
The two were swept out of the house and she and Atlee were sent sprawling into a churning sea that swallowed Atlee.
Nemcova, who suffered a broken pelvis and internal injuries, grabbed a palm tree and clutched it for eight hours, watching bodies float past her.
"I was so broken, I couldn't walk," Nemcova told the News by telephone from a hospital in Thailand. "There were so many people with horrible injuries, with blood everywhere. It was like a war movie."
Atlee remained missing Tuesday.
