Trapped in a van, Melissa Sharplin Tells of her horror ride in the killer wave

It was a rude awakening for the 29-year-old and her friends Kim and Preston, who were days away from getting married at the now-devastated Manono Island. They spent the night in their beach-front hut, excited about the celebrations ahead.

‘We thought someone was shaking our fale as a joke, then realised it was an earthquake,' Melissa recalls.

Remembering the devastating 2004 Boxing Day tsunami - where an estimated 230,000 people perished following an earthquake under the Indian Ocean - Kim was concerned about the potential for a killer wave. But locals explained earthquakes were fairly common in Samoa, so the trio relaxed - if the locals weren't worried, surely they were safe.

‘Kim started her washing and I was chatting to Preston,' Melissa recalls. ‘Then the locals started running and screaming at us. I looked out and thought, "Oh my God, is that a wave?"'

As a wall of water roared towards the beach, all they could do was run. Preston desperately worked to unlock their hired van, and seconds before it hit they leapt in and slammed the door.

‘I remember thinking "I swear I'm not supposed to die in a tsunami,"' Melissa says. The water swept the van backwards before a palm tree stopped it from tipping into the sea.

‘We could see the debris floating past us. I saw this swordfish, it looked panicked, flapping around,' Melissa says. ‘Then the force of the water smashed the back windscreen.'

Water began to fill the van, but thankfully subsided in time for the group to get out of the vehicle and into the knee-high currents outside.

‘Then the locals screamed for us to run for the hills - another wave was on the horizon,' Melissa says. ‘I sprinted into the forest and kept running for about half an hour.'

The cuts she sustained to her legs as she crashed through the debris and trees are slowly healing, but nothing will mend the horrific memories of nearly losing her life on September 29.

Back home, Melissa gazes at a painting she started before heading to Samoa. It portrays a Japanese geisha in breaking waves. She wonders if the image is a sign that she was destined to withstand the force of the tsunami.

‘We were so lucky. The three of us reunited for Kim and Preston's wedding, which was in Wellington, and we marvelled at how we had survived. If the van was parked further away, we'd be dead.'

By Caroline Botting

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