By Laurie Brookins, Photographs: Mark Liddell

She's endured the unimaginable, and emerged a stronger person, she says. Of course, it may be a little easier for us to imagine what Petra Nemcova went through on that fateful day in December 2004 -- Hurricanes Katrina and Rita made sure of that, bringing floodwaters and tragedy nearer to our doorsteps, and via non- stop TV coverage into each and every living room, causing those of us who don't live in ravaged regions to think, What would I do? What Nemcova did was a challenge far more insurmountable than it seems: She lived.

I first met Petra a couple of years ago when she appeared on the Summer 2003 cover of our sister publication, Ocean Drive magazine. As I spoke to her then, I remember thinking this was one of the sunniest people I had ever met -- eternally optimistic and benevolent almost to the point of saintly. Fresh from her appearance on the cover of Sports Illustrated's annual swimsuit issue, it would have been effortless for Nemcova to cultivate such notoriety into the image of a party-girl supermodel; instead, she talked about not having enough time to spend with her boyfriend, how thrilling it was to meet a fan (she missed an L.A.-to-New-York flight because she was chatting with him), and that she someday hoped to work with children in some capacity.

Eighteen months later, the wave came and swept everything that Petra had previously known out with it. By now the details are well-documented: She and her 33-year-old boyfriend, British photographer Simon Atlee, had been vacationing in the beachside Thai resort of Khao Lak and were packing to leave on the day after Christmas. What happened next was swift and horrific—water rushed into their bungalow, and as Petra was thrust into the current, she heard Simon calling her name. The force of the water ripped her clothes from her body and shattered her pelvis; the broken bones rendered her legs useless, causing her to almost drown in the rolling water, but she found the surface and sought refuge in the branches of a tree, where she was rescued eight hours later.

Nemcova knows how lucky she was: More than 200,000 people are estimated to have died in the tsunami, with Atlee originally listed as missing and presumed dead until his body was found in March. By then she had transferred hospitals twice, from a local hospital in Phuket, Thailand, to another one 150 miles southeast in Hat Yai, and as soon as she could make the trip, to a hospital near her family's home in the Czech Republic.

"As soon as I could fly I wanted to get back to Czech," says Nemcova, now 26. "My family wanted to come to Thailand, but I didn't allow it because I knew it would be so difficult for them. You have to believe that good things come out of bad experiences, and for me that's been the ability to spend time with my family while I was recovering. I never had any time because of my job, but this brought my family, my friends and Simon's family together. It's crazy how something so horrible can bring so much love and goodness to people."

It's been almost a year since the events of that day. Nemcova had told Diane Sawyer in March, just days after Atlee's body was discovered, that she wasn't sure she'd ever return to modeling. "In the moment, I live day by day," she said at the time. She was also walking with the use of a cane, and doctors told Nemcova she'd require months, maybe years, of rehabilitation.

She proved them all wrong. "I recovered really, really fast," she says. "I was missing Simon and going through lots of pain, but I was trying to stay positive and appreciate what I had." Such a declaration is perhaps the least surprising revelation about Nemcova's journey: Given her disposition before disaster struck, it's little wonder that perseverance and the power of positive thinking would be at the heart of a seemingly miraculous recovery. What was truly surprising was the mission she embarked on as soon as she was able. "Even while I was still lying in a hospital in Thailand, I couldn't wait to come back and help people; it was very frustrating to not be able to do anything," she says. "In May, I went back with my sister and a couple of my friends. It was a very hard trip, but also very inspiring." ...

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