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Tsunami Survivor: 'I Felt Guilty I'd Lived'

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 21 Desember 2014 | 23.39

When Amanda Rabbow describes the hours she fought for her life in the Boxing Day tsunami in 2004, it is as if she is back in the wave again.

"I just got carried off in the water until I backed into a brick wall - and everything carried in the water piled up against me so I got crushed backwards against this wall - and it started stacking up and rising up above my head and started to push me under," she said.

"Then I remember taking my last breath before I went under - and I just remember thinking - I hope it's quick - because I couldn't breathe.'

Amanda was on holiday in the beach resort of Khao Lak in Southern Thailand with her boyfriend - they were in bed when the wave struck their beachside bungalow.

Miraculously, just as she thought she was going to die, she was pulled out of the water by a local Thai man, who she is convinced saved her life.

She was then washed into the water again and spent three hours battling struggling to survive.

"It took me in it like a washing machine, that's all I can describe it as, and I remember doing massive somersaults and then coming back up to the surface and taking a massive breath and then being taken under again - more somersaults, come up for air, more somersaults," she said.

Amanda was finally able to pull herself up into a tree. When the water receded she climbed down, surrounded by bodies - including the body of the man who saved her.

"I know that he didn't survive and I have a lot of questions in my head in life - if you do the right thing by someone - he should have survived because he saved my life without a doubt."

Amanda managed to find her boyfriend up on the hillside and they stayed in a temple with other survivors until rescue teams finally managed to clear the roads to Khao Lak.

She faced an horrific journey to Bangkok.

"People paid for us to get on this bus but I couldn't sit upright on a chair and so I had to be laid flat in the luggage hold of this bus - and I was sick for 14-and-a-half hours solidly, brown water and I don't know what was coming out of my body - I thought I was going to die."

At last she was back in London, but she faced months of healing both her physical and psychological scars.

"I felt like I should have died, so I felt guilty, felt guilty for surviving and someone else not having the chance to survive," she said.

"I couldn't ever sleep - I didn't want to do anything and ... I was scared to do anything."

As the weeks passed, Amanda became determined to return to Thailand:

'I wanted to go back to Khao Lak and thank the people and to see if I could find the family of the man who I still think saved my life.'

She and a group of friends raised more than £50,000, and went back to Khao Lak to help the rebuilding effort:

"There was just a massive community of people that were there - there were survivors that were in back braces still, so injured, but they had stayed on to help.

"We could see where to use our money - there were Thai man mixing cement by hand, so we said - 'Here's some money, let's buy a cement mixer'."

Amanda remembers Boxing Day 2004 as the day her life changed forever.

'I know I had a life before 2004 - I was born in 1976, I know that - but I survived that day for one reason or another and I was meant to survive to have my children.

'So I think of life as of that day - that day my new life began - and I see life from 2004 - not before.'

You can see more about the Boxing Day Tsunami in a Sky News' documentary Tsunami: 10 Years After the Wave, on Sky News this evening at 9pm, and also on Catch up.

:: If you have been affected by any of the issues in Tsunami: 10 Years After The Wave, the following helplines can offer help and support:

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  1. Gallery: Archive CCTV Stills Of Tsunami

    Aceh province in Indonesia was the hardest hit by the Boxing Day tsunami of 2004. CCTV stills from the capital Banda Aceh show how the tsunami destroyed everything in its path.

People still on the street see the debris that is being swept along in the water and begin to run.

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Elton John Marries His Long-Term Partner

Elton John Marries His Long-Term Partner

We use cookies to give you the best experience. If you do nothing we'll assume that it's ok.

Sir Elton John and David Furnish have officially married - nine years to the day after they tied the knot in a civil partnership ceremony.

In his first post on his newly-created Instagram account, Sir Elton put up an invitation requesting "the pleasure of your company" and said the couple would share "special moments from our big day".

On Sunday morning, he posted a photo of himself, pen in hand, sitting next to Furnish with the message: "That's the legal bit done. Now on to the ceremony!"

The Beckhams and Elizabeth Hurley are among the high-profile guests attending the ceremony at the couple's mansion in Old Windsor, Berkshire.

Hurley tweeted a picture of herself with her son, saying: "On our way to Elton and David's wedding. V excited."

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  1. Gallery: Elton's Online Wedding

    Elton John is sharing regular updates on Instagram of his wedding to David Furnish. This post said: "That's the legal bit done. Now on to the ceremony!"

"Good morning! Nice day for a wedding," reads his third post.

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He also posted an image of their two sons' shoes, with the message: "Our little ring bearers are fast asleep, and their shoes are polished and ready for tomorrow's celebration."

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Sir Elton's first post was the invitation

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The ceremony gets under way as the registrar welcomes guests

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Elton John Marries His Long-Term Partner

We use cookies to give you the best experience. If you do nothing we'll assume that it's ok.

Sir Elton John and David Furnish have officially married - nine years to the day after they tied the knot in a civil partnership ceremony.

In his first post on his newly-created Instagram account, Sir Elton put up an invitation requesting "the pleasure of your company" and said the couple would share "special moments from our big day".

On Sunday morning, he posted a photo of himself, pen in hand, sitting next to Furnish with the message: "That's the legal bit done. Now on to the ceremony!"

The Beckhams and Elizabeth Hurley are among the high-profile guests attending the ceremony at the couple's mansion in Old Windsor, Berkshire.

Hurley tweeted a picture of herself with her son, saying: "On our way to Elton and David's wedding. V excited."

1/9

  1. Gallery: Elton's Online Wedding

    Elton John is sharing regular updates on Instagram of his wedding to David Furnish. This post said: "That's the legal bit done. Now on to the ceremony!"

"Good morning! Nice day for a wedding," reads his third post.

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He also posted an image of their two sons' shoes, with the message: "Our little ring bearers are fast asleep, and their shoes are polished and ready for tomorrow's celebration."

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Sir Elton's first post was the invitation

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The ceremony gets under way as the registrar welcomes guests

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May Wants To 'Send Home' Foreign Graduates

Foreign students could be forced to leave the UK after their courses finish under tough new rules being considered by the Home Secretary, reports say.

Theresa May wants the Conservative party's next manifesto include a pledge to make non-European Union graduates return home and apply for a work visa from abroad if they want to continue living in Britain, according to The Sunday Times.

At the moment most students switch easily to a work visa from within the UK.

Under the proposal, universities and colleges would be fined and stripped of the right to sponsor foreign students if they fail to ensure that students left the UK.

A source close to the Home Secretary told the newspaper that Mrs May has warned the Prime Minister that failure to act on foreign students will make it impossible for him to hit his target of cutting net migration.

"Making sure immigrants leave Britain at the end of their visa is as important a part of running a fair and efficient immigration system as controlling who comes here in the first place," the source said.

"Theresa is pressing for the next Conservative manifesto to contain a policy that will make sure that anybody coming here on a student visa will have to leave the country in order to apply for a new visa of any kind.

"She wants to make the colleges and universities that sponsor foreign students responsible for ensuring their departure.

"And she wants to be able to fine colleges and universities with low departure rates and deprive the worst of them of their right to sponsor foreign students."

But senior Liberal Democrats warned Mrs May's plan could deprive the UK of highly-skilled graduates.

A senior Lib Dem source said it made "zero economic sense" and "such a blunt instrument would not get our support".

An aide to Deputy PM and Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg added: "We think it is a very bad idea to get rid of people who have spent years training to be physicists and computer programmers.

"We've invested a lot in these people and to turf them out for the sake of some figures doesn't make any sense."

Mrs May is also likely to face resistance from Chancellor George Osborne, who encouraged David Cameron to ditch quotas for immigrants in his recent speech on EU migration because it would hurt the economy.

Mr Cameron has insisted that only the Tories can offer "competence" on dealing with immigration.

Writing in the Daily Express on Saturday, Mr Cameron said his Government had addressed some of the problems inherited from a Labour administration that "let immigration get out of control".

"I came into office with a single-minded determination to turn all this around - and real progress has been made," he said.

"We put a cap on those coming here to work from outside the European Union - and we have seen the numbers fall significantly, close to levels last seen in the 1990s.

"Major work has been done to clamp down on the bogus 'colleges' that were really just a front for people to come here, with more than 800 of them shut down so far."

Official figures from the Office for National Statistics show that 121,000 non-EU students entered the UK in the year to June, but only 51,000 left, meaning 70,000 stayed behind in just one year, The Sunday Times says.

The business department has calculated that the number of foreign students coming to the UK will rise by more than 6% a year up to 2020.


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Second Arrest Over Police Constable's Killing

A second man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after an off-duty police constable was beaten to death in Liverpool.

Neil Doyle, 36, was attacked by a group of men during a Christmas night out with colleagues from Merseyside Police.

Two other off-duty officers suffered facial injuries in the attack, which took place near the Aloha nightclub in Colquitt Street at around 3.15am on Friday.

A 28-year-old suspect from Huyton walked into a police station on Friday evening and is still being interviewed by detectives.

Now a 30-year-old man from the same area has been arrested and taken to a police station for questioning.

Both men were also arrested on suspicion of assaulting the two other officers.

Detectives are investigating the possibility they were targeted because of their jobs.

PC Doyle got married in July and was due to go on honeymoon next month.

In a statement, his widow Sarah said: "Neil was very well loved by all of his family, friends and colleagues and it is a great loss to us all.

"We are finding it extremely difficult to come to terms with what has happened and need time to be left to grieve."

Mr Doyle, who joined the force in May 2004, was taken to the Royal Liverpool Hospital, but died a short time later.

A post-mortem examination concluded he died from fatal bleeding around the brain, consistent with an assault.

Chief Constable Sir Jon Murphy said: "On behalf of everybody connected with Merseyside Police I extend our heartfelt and sincere condolences to his wife Sarah and the rest of his family.

"Constable Doyle was enjoying a Christmas night out with his work colleagues.

"At around 3.15am Neil left the Peacock bar and walked with two colleagues along Colquitt Street in the city centre.

"The three officers were subjected to an apparently unprovoked and vicious attack by a group of males."

Mr Doyle had received a commendation for his actions in arresting three men after a violent robbery.

The two other officers required hospital treatment. One suffered a fractured cheekbone.


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Domestic Abuse Victims Warned Over Presents

By Martin Brunt, Crime Correspondent

Victims of domestic abuse are being warned to beware of Christmas gifts containing hidden spyware.

Abusers will hide cameras or listening devices inside presents such as mobile phones, laptops and toys to snoop on their targets, say campaigners.

Jennifer Perry, CEO of Digital-Trust, which helps victims of digital abuse, said: "Surveillance technology is getting cheaper, better disguised, simpler to use and easier to find.

"We work with a range of domestic violence professionals who are telling us that digital abuse is making it much more difficult to help women and keep them safe."

She said new smartphones given by a possessive spouse could include an app that can turn on the microphone remotely and eavesdrop on their partner's conversations.

Emma, a woman with a jealous and controlling partner, said: "I had been out having coffee with a friend and when I returned he played back part of our conversation.

"I couldn't figure out how he had done it.

"Had he hired someone to follow me? Did he bug the cafe? It was my domestic violence case worker who told me to check my phone.

"I found he had put spyware on my phone and had been listening and reading my texts for months."

Digital-Trust said listening devices can be hidden in everyday products such as extension cords, phone chargers and carbon monoxide detectors, all of which will function normally.

It said the new Paddington Bear movie will promote sales of a voice-activated Paddington Bear recorder, which could become popular with people who want to spy on their partners or have shared custody of children.

"An abuser can send the bear home with the child and then during their next visit the abuser can listen to the recordings and charge the battery," Ms Perry warned.

"Add a small tracking chip in the bear and the abuser will also be able to track the child and its mother."

The trust offers advice for anyone who suspects they are being monitored at www.digital-trust.org.


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Hartlepool: Ched Evans Signing 'A Possibility'

Hartlepool manager Ronnie Moore has expressed his interest in signing convicted rapist Ched Evans.

Mr Moore, who took over as boss of the bottom club in the Football League this week, said the controversial move was "a possibility".

"If it could happen, I would want it to happen," he said.

Ched Evans had an offer to train at his former club, Sheffield United, retracted last month following an outcry over what many considered a step towards his return to professional football.

However the Professional Footballers' Association has declared that the former Welsh international should be given the opportunity to play with another club. 

The 25-year-old was released from prison in October after serving half of a five-year jail sentence for rape.

Shortly afterwards he released a video statement appealing for "a second chance" in football, but was fiercely criticised over his failure to apologise to his victim.

He maintains his innocence and an appeal process is currently underway.

Speaking after today's 1-1 draw against Oxford, Mr Moore told reporters: "He is a proven scorer; he's served his time and the boy wants to play football.

"If there is a chance he might come here, I don't see any reason why he shouldn't.

"He has made a mistake and maybe he hasn't apologised in the right way - and I know he has an appeal case pending - but if he gets on the park, he would go a long way to getting us out of trouble.

The announcement was immediately criticised by Hartlepool Labour MP and football fan Iain Wright.

"There's a reason why no other team in the Football League wants to sign him - he is a pariah," he said.

"I was at the match today. There were lots of young lads there supporting Hartlepool United.

"I just think it sends out such a wrong message to young men in terms of it being OK for a rapist to play football."

He told Sky News: "I think it says to women fans of the club (that) this is what we think about women".

Sarah Green, a spokeswoman for the campaign group End Violence Against Women Coalition, said: "Ched Evans is an unrepentant convicted rapist.

"Any club who sign him need to think hard about the message they are sending to their fans, to the local community and to all football supporters in allowing him to rejoin the beautiful game."

Sheffield United's decision to allow Ched Evans to train with his former club prompted patrons Paul Heaton, Dave Berry, Lindsay Graham and Charlie Webster to step down.

Olympic gold medallist Jessica Ennis-Hill also asked that her name be removed from one of the stands at the club's Bramall Lane ground if Evans was re-signed.


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Booze Bus Aims To Ease Pressure On A&E

By Rhiannon Mills, Sky News Correspondent

A mobile treatment centre costing nearly half a million pounds has been opened to keep drunk people out of A&E.

During one of the busiest weekends of the year as many celebrate Christmas parties, Sky News was invited to see the facility in Bristol which has been paid for by pubs and clubs through the National Licensed Trade Association.

The Alcohol Recovery Centre comes in a 65-foot-long truck trailer and is equipped with several beds, a waiting area and showers.

By 11pm on Saturday night the centre had already welcomed its first visitors, all of different ages and from a variety of backgrounds.

We saw patients being assessed by a paramedic to make sure they didn't have any other symptoms or injuries that needed treatment, before being left to rest and sober up.

Chris Hewett from South Western Ambulance Service told Sky News: "We're trying to achieve two things.

"The first thing is take the pressure off our colleagues in the hospitals, and the other thing is to try and keep the 999 ambulances free to go out and answer life-threatening emergencies."

It's hoped the centre will reduce the number of visits to hospital A&E departments, giving paramedics a dedicated space to help people who may be vulnerable because they've drunk too much.

A trial of the scheme, which ran in Bristol during December 2013, was praised for saving hundreds of hospital hours.

There are plans to open more centres like it across the UK in the next 18 months.

Andy Bishop, from the NLTA, said: "I am delighted to be involved with this pioneering national scheme that will have a profound effect on the licensed trade and in turn reduce the pressure of anti-social drinking on the emergency services, maintain ongoing health education and fund increased community support.

"Although we look forward to seeing the success of the project across the UK, our aim is that, through education, there will be no need for such assistance in our society in the future."

Almost 10 million hospital admissions in England last year were related to alcohol, and the cost to the NHS was up to £1.3bn.

Alcohol Concern believes this will contribute to an NHS deficit of £30bn by 2020.


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Confirmed: Christmas Day Weather Forecast

By Nazaneen Ghaffar, Weather Presenter

The long-range weather forecast now goes as far as Christmas Day - and reveals where it is most likely to snow.

The data, which at this stage is still open to change, indicates that on 25 December it will be mainly dry and a sunny day for all areas.

It will be chilly as well with the winds coming in from a cold northerly direction and temperatures for some will be just below the average for the time of year.

There will be the risk of some showers as well, especially across Scotland, Ireland, northwest England and parts of Wales, some of which could turn to sleet and snow over high ground.

Snow is most likely over the tops of the Scottish Highlands, mainly over 200m (650ft).

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  1. Gallery: Snow Blankets Parts Of UK

    Middleham Moor in the Yorkshire Dales after overnight snow

The blanketing of snow came overnight, showing that winter is well and truly here. Continue through for more images

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Ambulances May Take Twice As Long, Memo Says

Some patients who need an ambulance may soon have to wait longer for it to arrive even if they are classed as a serious case, under new proposals seen by Sky News.

In a letter, the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives suggests the target time to get to patients suffering a range of "serious but not the most life-threatening" problems, including strokes and seizures, could be increased to 19 minutes.

The current target for an emergency vehicle to reach people in life-threatening situations is eight minutes.

According to the memo, NHS England says there will be no changes to response times where patients have "immediately life threatening" conditions such as cardiac arrest, choking and major bleeding - known as Red 1 calls.

In these instances, a "fast response" car is often sent ahead of a fully-crewed ambulance to meet the time limit.

For serious cases like strokes and fits - Red 2 calls - there would be an extra three minutes added on to the response time.

But a proportion of Red 2s would have the eight-minute target scrapped in favour of a 19-minute one for a full ambulance crew to be sent on its own.

Andy Burnham, Labour's shadow health secretary, said: "This has all the hallmarks of a panic move and suggests Jeremy Hunt's only solution to the A&E crisis is to give up and move the goalposts.

"Rather than getting ambulance response times back up to established standards, it looks like he is running up the white flag. The situation in the NHS is now serious and Jeremy Hunt is failing to provide the leadership it desperately needs.

"While there may be a case for reviewing these rules, this is not the way to do it. It is nothing short of dangerous to make a snap decision at the start of the most difficult winter in the NHS for years.

"Hunt's decision risks leaving thousands of seriously ill people waiting longer for ambulances this winter. The Health Secretary needs to provide urgent reassurance that this change can be safely made and won't put lives at risks."

But a Department of Health spokesman insisted there were "absolutely no plans" to increase ambulance waiting times.

"We have given ambulances an extra £50m this winter to ensure the service remains sustainable and the Secretary of State agreed that NHS England should investigate a proposal from the ambulance services themselves to see whether the service they offer the public could be improved," the spokesman said.

"No decisions have been made, and the Secretary of State would only agree to proposed changes that improve response times for urgent cases."

In an interview with Dermot Murnaghan, Chris Grayling told Sky News: "This is not something that has been decided. The Health Secretary will not give the go-ahead to something that weakens the support the Ambulance Service provides to our community."


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Survivors Welcome Scrapping Of Sex Abuse Panel

By Sean Dilley, Sky News Reporter

Survivors have welcomed reports, in a letter seen by Sky News, that Theresa May is planning to scrap the panel set up to investigate allegations of historical child sex abuse.

The letter, signed by more than 60 victims and representatives who wish to remain anonymous, lists a series of demands for the Home Secretary regarding the Child Sex Abuse Inquiry.

It calls for a statutory inquiry to be declared, a public announcement that the existing panel will be scrapped and replaced on a "transparent fit-for-purpose" and the appointment of an inquiry chair who has "demonstrable experience and ability in challenging the establishment".

It reads: "Following the mistakes of the last six months, we consider your proposals as an opportunity to place the inquiry on to a firm footing whereby it can focus on dealing with organised and institutional abuse and cover ups at the highest levels.

"It is important that the inquiry is centred on bringing perpetrators before the courts, holding those that have failed in their professional duty or covered up allegations or been obstructive to account and delivering justice for survivors."

On Sunday a letter to panel members obtained by the investigations website Exaro News revealed the Home Secretary says she is considering three options in the hope of regaining the trust of "survivors" of sexual abuse.

She wrote: "Survivors have stressed that if they are to have confidence in the inquiry, it must have the power to compel witnesses.

"I am clear I want to give the inquiry those powers and there are three options for doing this. i) Convert the current inquiry into a statutory inquiry under the Inquiries Act 2005, subject to consultation with the chairman once appointed. ii) Set up a statutory inquiry under the 2005 Inquiries Act. iii) Establish a royal commission."

But the panel believe that the decision to disband the inquiry has already been made.

The Home Office has not confirmed or denied reports the panel is to be dismissed.

A statement released on Saturday night said: "The Home Secretary is determined that appalling cases of child sexual abuse should be exposed so that perpetrators face justice and the vulnerable are protected.

"She is absolutely committed to ensuring the Independent Panel Inquiry Into Child Sexual Abuse has the confidence of survivors. The Home Secretary is also clear that we have to balance the need to make progress with the need to get this right."

Sky News has asked the Home Office "whether the Home Secretary or any other Home Office representative has told any panel member that the panel will definitely be scrapped" and whether the Home Secretary has decided yet "whether she will disband the existing panel".

So far, they have not responded.

In her letter, Mrs May explained that "survivors also feel that the process by which the panel was appointed should have been more transparent".

There is a feeling within the current inquiry that too much attention is being paid to a "vocal minority of survivors".

Panel member Sharon Evans, chief executive of Dot Com Children's Foundation, herself a survivor of abuse, has written to the Home Secretary expressing that she is "devastated" at the prospect of the inquiry being dissolved and informed Mrs May the panel had been told in off the record terms that they will be stood down after Christmas.

Mrs Evans noted that the panel has met with 70 survivors so far. Some 90% of them support the inquiry as it is, she said.

But the inquiry, which was set up in July of this year to investigate whether public bodies and other non-state institutions failed in their duty to protect children from sexual abuse in England and Wales, lost two chairpersons - Fiona Woolf and Baroness Butler-Sloss - due to conflicts of interests.

Some survivors have also said they have lost confidence in the rest of the panel.

Six months on, the Home Secretary will be keen to gain the trust of survivors and the public as a whole.


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