REMEMBER WHEN

GOLD COAST BULLETIN Tuesday, December 28, 2004

TERRIFIED 18-year-old Stephen Carroll splashed through sewage, crashed through scrub and ran for his life up a Phuket mountain for more than two hours on Sunday as a tsunami wreaked devastation down below.

As water gushed around his bare feet and the streets around him were thrown into chaos,

there was just one thing on the Gold Coast teen’s mind: get to higher ground.

”I knew I had to get as high as possible, I just ran as hard as I could,” the TSS graduate said.

“I was just so scared, I thought the wave was going to break right on top of me.

”I ran up the mountain for so long, but I didn’t think it was high enough, so I just kept on running ... I just feel so lucky to be alive.”

From a hotel room high in the mountains above Phuket,

Stephen relayed his terrifying tale to The Bulletin.

Separated from his friends for almost nine hours, Stephen was frantic with worry.

He had travelled to Thailand with school mates, Trent Moore and Daniel Quinlivan, both 17, and their Gold Coast families.

“We all got separated as we ran for the hills,” Stephen said.

“I ran straight through a heap of sewage and I was covered in it. Everyone else ran around it, that’s when I lost them.’’