The West Country | Archive | 2005 | March | 17
From the archive, first published Thursday 17th Mar 2005.
YEOVIL relief worker John Burgess has spoken of the amazing moment when he was recently presented with the rucksack which perished with Chilhtorne Domer man Piers Simon when the Asian tsunami struck on Boxing Day (writes Steve Sowden).
Mr Simon, 33, was one of thousands of people to die when the huge waves struck the Thai island of Koh Phi Phi. And although Mr Simon's body was found and identified on New Year's Eve, the rucksack he had at the time of the disaster was not discovered - until now.
Mr Burgess, of West Coker Road, has only just returned to Yeovil after spending several weeks out in Thailand as part of his role as the development director for the Regent's School, a major international school in Bangkok and Pattaya, helping in the relief effort to get people's lives started again.
He has led a number of groups of students from the Regent's School on missions to rebuild fishermen's homes in the Krabi Province.
As part of the trip he took the opportunity to travel to the nearby island of Ko Phi Phi and pay his own tribute to Piers and to see for himself the true scale of devastation.
Now back in Yeovil, Mr Burgess explained that while in Thailand he met up with a diver by the name of Marcel who had been helping with environmental work clearing the large amount of debris that had collected in a reef off the coast of Ko Phi Phi following the tsunami.
"I sort of befriended Marcel and I mentioned to him the fact about Piers Simon coming from the same area as me in England and that I'd just met his parents, Henry and Celia, who had been over in Thailand on holiday," he said.
"You have to appreciate that there is thousands of tonnes of debris from Ko Phi Phi being cleared away. There is a large barge that takes the debris away from the island on a daily basis.
"So you can just imagine what I was thinking when the next day after meeting Marcel he came up to me and said that he had just found Piers' rucksack out on the reef.
"It was like being hit over the head with a sledgehammer. It was a very strange feeling. Out of all that tonnes of rubbish and debris, Marcel went out and just by chance - a chance in a million - found Piers' rucksack. I just couldn't believe it, it was very spooky.
"The fact that Marcel had found the rucksack would be like winning the lottery or finding a needle in a haystack. The odds on it happening would be huge."
Piers' parents, Henry and Celia, have been equally amazed at the discovery of the rucksack, even more so when the Express revealed to them yesterday (Wednesday) that Mr Burgess was actually there when it was found - several weeks after the tsunami had struck.
Mr Simon said: "It is amazing. It is as if Piers is looking down on us all and directing things."
Fundraising for the Piers Simon Donation Appeal, set up in his memory, continues and the family are now looking to help with the rebuilding of the school on Ko Phi Phi.
"I think it is a worthwhile project and we are just waiting to see what we can do," added Mr Simon.
Mrs Simon's sister and niece are currently in Thailand and will this weekend travel down to Krabi along with Piers' brother Luke, who is working at a Thai school, to meet up with officials to discuss the project.
Mr Simon said: "We should know more about where we are going with the appeal fund after this weekend. But we definitely want to help the children of Ko Phi Phi.
"The appeal has given us a real sense of purpose. We could just mope about and mourn the loss of our son, but the appeal fund has kept us busy and we want to do something to help."
The fundraising continues on March 27 when the popular local band Storm play at the Quicksilver Mail pub in Hendford Hill, Yeovil, from 8pm. Entrance fee is £3 on the door.
Meanwhile, a massive gig is being held at The Bridge venue in Weston Street, London, SE1 on Easer Monday from 7pm in aid of the Piers Simon Donation Appeal. There will be 105 musicians in 12 bands across six stages in four rooms.
Tickets are priced £8 and must be bought in advance from www.csmusic.co.uk
Mr Simon said: "The response we've had from people has been amazing and we are still receiving money.
"Although the national charities have stopped taking donations for the tsunami fund, we are more than happy to receive any money that has been raised and we will put it towards our own appeal."
© Newsquest Media Group 2008