In the early 2000s, Petra Nemcova had a hugely successful career that included landing the cover of Sports Illustrated and modeling for Victoria's Secret. Everything changed in 2004, however, when the model and her fiancé, photographer Simon Atlee, were caught in the Boxing Day tsunami in Thailand. Atlee lost his life in the disaster, but Nemcova survived, having hung onto a palm tree for eight hours.
In a 2018 interview with Buro 24/7, Nemcova described how she came out of the tragedy with a new perspective. "The most amazing gift we can give to anyone is the power of intention and the power of focusing on positivity," she said. "When I was in the hospital, I didn't know whether I was going to walk. I said, 'If I cannot walk, I still have my arms, I have my eyes, I can see, I can hear, there are so many things to be grateful for.'"
These days, Nemcova is focused on her own non-profit organization, the Happy Hearts Fund, whose goal is to help support communities that have faced disaster. Since 2006, it's rebuilt over 162 schools in ten countries, including the U.S., Thailand, and the Philippines.
