Lessons save lives: the story of Tilly Smith

[dcs002]

BTW, I am getting psychiatric help, and my psychiatrist has a large framed portrait of J.K. Rowling in her clinic (as Rowling also has a psychiatric disorder, and she is open about it) and a Harry Potter poster in her office. She's about 10 years older than I am. Lots of adults love the Harry Potter books! That's why in the UK there is a children's edition and an adult edition of each book!

Given Tilly's position that day, wouldn't you have done what she did? I would. Are you a hero? I'm not.

[becca98002]

MY NAMES TILLY!!!!:D

[dcs002]

Is she a heroine? Given what she'd learned in school, would anyone not have done what she did? (And it seems what she did was disagree with her mom and walk off.) I suppose we need our heroes, especially when disaster strikes, and her actions saved a lot of lives, but she is just a young girl who acted like a young girl. Does it help her to elevate her above that status? I really don't think so, and I'm glad she's humble about it.

[TheColincm]

@dcs002 I think you are being very unfair to Tilly...she IS a heroine,showing great presence of mind in a crisis:she had to shake her mother up by walking off ! By the way,don't patronize Tilly: I see that you're 45 and like Harry Potter.....seek psychiatric help !

[dcs002]

@TheColincm I think it's unfair to tell a child she did something heroic when she acted normally. It might teach the child that 1) she lives in a world of people who don't care enough about her or each other to do even the simple thing that she did, or 2) that she is somehow better than others and therefore worth more as a person than others. Either cynicism or arrogance - both lead to loneliness. I'm glad she seems to have avoided such misery. Again, does it help her to call her a heroine?

[tSp289]

The biggest problem (after lack of education) is disbelief. You see the signs but think "haha, yeah right". You then may change your mind but you have lost vital seconds. I think that being a kid and perhaps more imaginative than her parents made her more inclined to believe her eyes.

I know if I saw frothing waves and a receding sea - without the influence of the news footage of 2004 and 2011 tsunamis - I would probably assume I was overreacting or wrong.

[TheColincm]

@tSp289 A very good observation in every respect !

[actionmanhere]

I have just come back from Thailand and had to see this video as Tilly is still a heroine there and everyone still talks about this amazing girl and the lives that she saved.

[NinkaPanda]

Lol Tilly's mum is a twat.

[MentyEsquire]

@NinkaPanda haha I lol'd

[Skypony987]

WOWOW i go to that school now!!!!

[tylerdayleaf]

I heard about her in my book.

[EnNexMusic]

Wow! I heard about Tilly at school and found out about her in Internet.

She's very clever, good work!

[jsskrishnakanth]

all credit goes to the geography teacher

[camipame]

my supsitud teachers great grandma'

[CandyxLover1]

she has to be 16 ryt now in 2010...!:)

[elwable]

very good tilly

[mightyjamesbean]

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv­veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrr­rrrrrrrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyyyyyy­yyyy gggggggggggggggggggooooooooooo­ooooooooodddddddddddddd

[NielsShoe]

Hardest part is warning people a tsunami is like a hollywood disaster theme so rare that most peole would just ignore you if you warned them

[marty0mart]

What an amazingly articulate ten year old!!!

[WiltatKansas]

It's a good school

[img6493]

sharp kid, very articulate too

[siddicalovato12]

can anyone tell me howw old is tilly smith now[2009]? and how old was she when she saved the lives of many people?[maybe in 2004]?

[ELiiT3xGoDz1]

she was 10 in 2004.... you should be able to work it out from there, lol. it says how old she is at the start of the video..lol

[365DaysOfFun]

she was ten or eleven, and now its 2010, so she would be around fifteen or sixteen . why would it matter?

[divakaranmullath]

exellent work tilly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[nuttynic1986]

I'm wondering why her mum wasn't listening to her daughter's warning. She seems like a very bright girl and for her mum not to believe her i find quite shocking. Having said that i'm glad the mum went back up the beach. I am also very proud that Tilly managed to save around 100 lives! Just goes to show how important education is. I now know what the warning signs of a tsunami looks like but in the wake of such terrible tragedy and loss of life.

[neohubris]

Tilly's mother is a stupid cunt

she should have listened to her daughter

[GOHilliard]

Neohubris please make your point without swearing.

[pajko83]

She speaks like a much older person. She is so smart. I still can't believe this is a 12-13 year old girl. She is smarter then most of my friends and colleagues and I'm 25. Myself included in this group..

[53JUTIand53m0nt3]

she's about 14 now she's so clever and i wish i was like her

[glossy80sgirl]

amazying!!!!!

[aalyyssa]

lmfao i just watched this exact thing in french

of course i didnt understand a single thing

lol and i didnt realize there was one in english

durrr im smart ahaha

i just saw something about this on tv

shes sooo pretty now !

even my mom was like aweh shes so pretty lol

[glossy80sgirl]

Cool I just so it on tv too was urs on 2020?

[aalyyssa]

mhmm aha (:

[allcambridgereject]

im good freinds with tilly and the video is brilliant. her story should world famous

[53JUTIand53m0nt3]

is she 14 now? she is so clever

[mcozar]

I'm a Spanish teacher and in our school we use Oxford University Press books to study English. There is a whole unit dedicated to Tilly and what she did. The story is told as a comic. Quite interesting, we in Spain hadn't no idea neither about that. Hopeful thing to listen for teachers.

[GOHilliard]

I am disappointed that this story is not better known here in Australia. Even Tricia Broadbridge, who lost her husband, Troy (an Australian Rules footballer), in the tsunami hadn't heard of Tilly Smith until I drew her attention to this story.

[000jOeY000]

Tilly was in my class at Danes Hill School. I'm in that video. Thats so cool.

[53JUTIand53m0nt3]

is she like 14 now? she is soooo clever

[Antonella199889]

que miedo T_T

[sepiasilence]

same it hasnt had more views

[GOHilliard]

I quite agree. Has any child ever done anything more wonderful? (I assume you meant "shame" not "same".)

[bethanybaldwin]

thanks for posting. I didn't know about this story over here in Canada.