María Belón
María Belón is a Spanish physician and motivational speaker, best known for surviving the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami when she was on holiday in Thailand with her husband Enrique Álvarez and three sons Lucas, Simón, and Tomás. She was severely injured during the tsunami and nearly died.
She was portrayed in the 2012 film The Impossible by Naomi Watts, who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance. The family's nationality was unspecified in the film.
Depiction in media
Belón is credited in the cast of the 2012 film The Impossible for providing her story and working on the set in Thailand in the same locations as the original tsunami. Belón was delighted with the selection of Naomi Watts to play her in the film, stating that Watts was her favorite actress after seeing the film 21 Grams. She worked with screenwriter Sergio G. Sánchez to ensure her story was accurately told.Belón has appeared on numerous television shows, including Charlie Rose and The View, discussing her experience of making the film and her family's experience of the tsunami. She has been outspoken regarding the fact that her story of survival is not the only one, and that she is only one of many who suffered and survived. She now works as an advocate for those still recovering from the effects of the tsunami. She has said of her experience,
Advocacy
Since her recovery, Belón has become an international advocate for tsunami survivors and resilience in the face of trauma. She gives motivational talks about her experience during the 2004 tsunami and her two-year recovery process following severe injuries.In 2013 she was a guest lecturer at the Instituto de Cervantes in Gibraltar. In 2015, she was the Spotlight Guest Speaker at the Share Iuvare Business Convention and also spoke at the World Business Forum, addressing themes of perseverance, family, and post-traumatic growth.
Her story, which took place in Khao Lak, Thailand, one of the hardest-hit areas in the 2004 disaster, has often been referenced in broader discussions about the international response, such as Operation Unified Assistance, and the long-term psychological impact on survivors featured in tsunami-related research and survivor networks.