INDIANAPOLIS -- An Indianapolis man is back home after surviving the tsunami in southeast Asia.

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Man Was Swimming When Waves Hit

Jeremy Edesess, 27, a commercial real estate broker, was in Thailand vacationing with his family when the tsunami hit, RTV6's Julie Pursley reported.

Edesess said he was on an island boat tour when he and his brother went into the water with life jackets on to swim in an area called Emerald Cave.

"A big wave hit. Nobody saw it. It wasn't real tall. What we noticed, a lot of water just pushed us," Edesess said.

Edesess said the captain of the boat was about to leave him behind, but his mother, who speaks Thai, told the captain to stop and bring them back into the boat.

"We were really lucky as a family. None of us were hurt," Edesess said.

Not everybody in Emerald Cave survived, Edesess said. He said his 72-year-old aunt was on the beach near their hotel when the waves hit.

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"A wave did hit her, pushed her up, and then pulled back, and she stopped at the brick wall that was there. Another wave came and hit her again and brought her purse to back her with her four Buddhas in it, and then somebody helped her and she made it away," Edesess said.

The first floor of his hotel was destroyed, but all of the belongings were on a higher floor and were not damaged, Pursley reported.

Edesess had to camp outside for a night, but he isn't complaining about the inconvenience.

"What happened to us was significant -- it ruined a couple of days. But it was insignificant in real comparison to what happened to other people," Edesess said.

Edesess said his mother was able to help with the rescue operations by acting as a translator, Pursley reported.