A HOLIDAYMAKER who was rescued by strangers as they struggled to escape the Asian tsunami has vowed to raise thousands to help their village recover.

Emmelie Forsyth, a 25-year-old sales and marketing manager from Chartridge, was on a bus in Sri Lanka when it was surrounded by three metre high waves.

Miss Forsyth said: "I was going to spend the day with some friends at a posh hotel in Hikkaduwa when suddenly I noticed there was water all around us.

"We saw people floating past us being dragged out of the water and a guy on a surf board trying to rescue people.

"There was a hotel falling down and everyone was really scared."

The bus driver took passengers to higher ground on the hillside of a fishing village in Boossa. There Miss Forsyth was looked after by a local family who took her into their home.

She said: "These people who had lost so much of their livelihoods and possessions made me feel so welcome. I stayed with them for six hours and they made sure I was given food and water before anyone else, even though there probably wasn't enough to go round."

Miss Forsyth was then rescued by an English speaking Sri Lankan on a push bike who took her back to his guest house in Boossa where she stayed until her flight back to England on New Year's Day.

She added: "I just wanted to do something for these poor people who showed me such incredible kindness when they were in far greater need.

"I am still in touch with my rescuer Devinda De Zoysa and I have set up a disaster relief fund for the 15,000 people in the village of Boossa."

Meanwhile Martin Cyster, former organiser of Wycombe's Sunday Combination League, was worried sick about his eldest son Jeff, 36, who was in Thailand for Christmas.. But that turned to relief when the family had a call saying he was alive.

For details on the appeal email emmelieforsyth@hotmail.com